The White Lotus War
by Mutantpencil
Summary: Avatar Aang defeated the Phoenix King, Avatar Korra triumphed over Amon, and now a new Avatar will begin her journey to protect the world. However, when an Underground Nation prepares to go to war with the White Lotus itself, the Avatar will learn that fighting may not be enough; and that her choices could bring the downfall of the White Lotus, as well as the demise her friends.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: There are some things you may want to know before you begin reading this story. First off, this is a completely new story starring a completely new Avatar and cast; the world is still the same and I plan to bring up original characters including Aang and Zuko every now and then, but this is mostly a completely new story after Korra's reign as Avatar. Secondly, I didn't want to risk making the Avatar world too modern (since in the last season there were the inventions of radio, airplanes, and super eletric techno platinum suits or whatever those things were) so the world will be pretty similar to how we saw it in Korra's time. Okay, I've bored you guys enough. ENJOY!

The White Lotus War

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

A luxurious white sato-mobile with an engraved White Lotus symbol on each side of the car pulled up to a decent sized, yet noticeably poor house that the Mizutamari family lived in. Two men in traditional White Lotus robes stepped out of the car and into the sunlight. One man was very muscular with a huge physique who obviously spent countless hours training. He had long blond hair tied up into a ponytail and his face and brown eyes were as hard as stone. The other man was very elderly with wrinkles all across his body, yet held a formidable physique. He was bald with air bender arrows on his forehead and hands, showing that he was from the Air Nomads, which was slowly, but surely, being restored. They both stared at the household with great anticipation.

The more muscular man asked, "Are you certain that this is the correct residence Meelo?"

Meelo uncontrollably laughed and asked back, "You think I'd be wrong about the location of the next Avatar? Ju-Long," Meelo quickly jumped high into the air with the use of his air bending and shouted loudly, "I am Meelo of the Southern Air Temple and Bestest of the bestest friends of Big Sis Korra!" He landed softly on the ground next to Ju-Long, picked his nose to Ju-Long's disgust, and added, "So yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the place. Don't be fooled by first appearances dude."

Ju-Long sighed in frustration for two reasons; one reason was because of his annoying response while picking his nose, and also because they had answered to three other possible sightings of the Avatar and Meelo every time screamed, "This is definitely where we'll find the Avatar!" despite the fact that none of them held up. Ju-Long managed to swallow the majority of his annoyance and he proceeded to the door. He was about to knock on the door when a woman quickly burst through and bumped into him.

The woman quickly said in shock, "Members of the White Lotus! You honor me with your presence, but first, did you hear who was shouting outside? Was someone hurt?"

Meelo uncontrollably laughed and said, "Nah! That was just me! I like to shout when I'm excited; or happy, or sad, or afraid, hungry, bored…"

Meelo continued his list of emotions while Ju-Long approached the woman and asked, "Are you Miss Mizutamari?"

She bowed slightly to him and said, "Yes, and I am very honored and grateful that you are here."

"We received word from you that you believe your son is the Avatar that we have searched for; is that correct?"

She looked up at him with a big smile and said, "Yes. Please come in and I'll introduce you to my husband and take you to see my son. He's probably skipping stones in the lake behind our house. But please be quiet, our baby girl is taking a nap."

Ju-Long bowed Miss Mizutamari in thanks and entered the house. He turned back to Meelo and said, "Please come along Meelo."

"Haunted, skeptical, flabbergasted…huh? Oh! Coming!" Meelo said in glee.

The house was decently sized yet seemed very poor and rundown. The floorboards were creaky and the roof had one or two small holes in it, and every piece of furniture just seemed like trash attempting to be mistaken as furniture. This was obviously a family that had difficulty earning enough copper pieces to make the payments on the house. Her husband came through one of the side doors and from the look of his beaten red eyes and worn out hands, he seemed to be the type of man who worked his entire life and barely had enough time for himself. Still, by the way that the couple smiled at each other and embraced each other as they met, they seemed comfortable and happy with their lives as long as they were with each other.

The husband looked at Ju-Long and Meelo and bowed saying, "White Lotus, it is an extraordinary honor for you to visit our humble home."

Ju-Long just looked around the house more, still intrigued by how happy the two were with living in such bad conditions, while Meelo just stood there picking his ear with his pinky. Though obviously disgusted by Meelo's habit, he maintained his posture and said, "Please let me introduce you to our son, Akio."

The couple led the two White Lotus members to the giant lake just outside their house where a small boy was quietly skipping stones. He turned around at the sound of his father calling him, "Akio!"

Akio was a young boy, about six years old, with slightly long black hair and crystal blue eyes. His eyes were hard, yet calm and very observant by the way he scanned the two new men he didn't know. He had a good physique for a boy his age and he held an almost blank emotion on his face.

The four people approached Akio and his father patted him on the shoulder, "Akia, these are two members of the White Lotus. Would you please show them your talent?"

Akio nodded and turned toward the lake. The couple quickly told Ju-Long and Meelo to step back as Akio breathed in and out a few times. What happened next was mind-blowing. With a swift flick of his wrist, a massive wave blasted out of the lake and flew into the sky! Akio rotated his hands some more and the water quickly formed into the shape of a dragon! With the careful movement of his hands, Akio made the water dragon move as if it were actually a real dragon! Ju-Long was so astounded that he just stared with his mouth open. Meelo cheered and applauded the show shouting, "Now turn it into a leopard-snake! No, turn it into a squirrel-bear!" Akio flicked his wrist and had the dragon dive into the water creating an explosion of water that burst out of the lake.

Akio turned around and bowed to the White Lotus members. Meelo ran up to Akio and shouted, "That was great! I so have to see that again! It was like a firework show with a slight less boom! I so want you to be the next Avatar!" Meelo then quickly turned toward the parents and said with astonishing less enthusiasm, "Too bad he isn't."

The couple were shocked by his statement and turned to Ju-Long who apologetically nodded and said, "I'm sorry, but he's right; Akio simply cannot be the Avatar. For starters, he doesn't bend earth, which is what the next Avatar will have for a main element. Secondly, he's too old. Avatar Korra died a little over two years ago and your son appears to be about six or seven."

"I see," Miss Mizutamari said with a saddened expression, but then she perked up and said, "Well, thank you for telling us and I'm very sorry we wasted your time."

"Aw, don't be sorry," Meelo said with a big smile, "Your son still has a lot of potential for his age and I think that he'd be a big addition to the Northern Water Tribe." Meelo then got his very rare, 'I have an idea', look on his face and said, "Hey! Since I'm aware that Akio has astounding water bending talent, why don't I personally put in a good word for your son to the Northern Water Tribe? I'm sure that they'd be more than happy to train him up there!"

The couple's expressions exploded with great delight and Mister Mizutamari asked, "You would do that? You're too kind, sir!"

Meelo laughed and said, "Anything for a good-hearted bunch like you guys! Besides, Akio reminds me of me at his age; silent, calm, bursting with unlimited potential…"

As Meelo continued on with his self praises that were not true in the slightest, the couple approached Ju-Long and silently asked, "Was he actually like that as a kid?" They were obviously concerned for the mental health of their son, but Ju-Long assured them that Meelo was one-in-a-million.

Meelo then stopped his current listing of self-admirable adjectives and called out, "Hey Ju-Long! Last one to the sato-mobile is a rotten chicken-frog egg!" He then used his air bending to blast himself over the Mizutamari house in a single leap. They heard a crash from the other side, but it was followed by Meelo shouting, "I'm all right!"

Ju-Long decided to not be as childish as Meelo and headed back toward the car while the couple stayed with Akio to praise him on a job well-done with his bending and they joined him in skipping stones. Ju-Long was about to exit when he heard a baby crying from inside one of the rooms. Ju-Long opened the door to find the small baby girl that Miss Mizutamari mentioned earlier lying in a bundle of freshly washed white cloth. Ju-Long saw that the baby's pacifier fell from her mouth and he picked it up and put it back in her mouth. She started to stop crying and sucked on her pacifier.

Ju-Long was about to exit when he heard the baby laugh. At that moment, he felt something being thrown at the back of his robe. He quickly turned around to find that nothing was different from when he entered, but a small stain of dirt was now on his robes. But then, he saw the baby laugh again and she lifted both her arms, which caused some of the dirt from a potted plant to fly up into the air and hit the ceiling. Ju-Long simply stared at the baby in amazement.

It couldn't be, Ju-Long thought to himself, could it?

Meelo was picking his nose when Ju-Long burst out of the house with great anxiety. Meelo laughed and announced, "I win! You're a rotten chicken-frog egg!" But Ju-Long didn't care about Meelo's comments or his disgusting habits at the time.

"Meelo," Ju-Long said in great haste, "Do you have a copper piece on you? I have to make a quick call."

"Sure," Meelo said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a copper piece. Meelo quickly licked it before slapping it into Ju-Long's hand. He uncontrollably laughed and said, "Enjoy!"

Ju-Long was disgusted by his action, but he was more occupied on the phone call. He quickly went to a payphone on the corner of the sidewalk and dialed a number. The phone rang once, twice, three times, four times.

"Hello?" asked a calm voice.

"It's Ju-Long," he said in a completely serious voice, "I need you to inform the commanders to start rallying allies for Operation Underground and send word to the Doctor that I wish to commence a Deletion."

"A Deletion? First of all sir, I'll have to contact of all our commanders to begin this rallying and I suspect that it will take about three years to reach a state where we'll be able to begin Operation Underground. I'd also have to inform the Doctor about preparing a Deletion and we both know that he hates to be disturbed for no good reason. Sir, we only have five years of preparation under our belts and it may not be enough to strike against the White Lotus yet. Why in the world do you want to begin this so early? And who is this Deletion for?"

Ju-Long made sure that Meelo was preoccupied in doing some disgusting habit before he answered, "I've found the Avatar."

Phew! The first chapter of my first fanfic is done! I hope you liked it, I'm looking forward to continuing the story, and I hope you'll keeping reading! Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

The White Lotus War

Chapter 2: A Diamond Hidden In Dirt

"I don't believe this!" a woman cried out from a glorious looking mansion. Suddenly, the doors flew open and a young girl in a maid outfit was practically thrown out from the mansion and she fell to the ground hard. Another woman dressed in expensive-looking furs and high heels came out from the house and stared down at the maid with anger in her eyes.

"How many times have I told you not to earth bend while on the job? I thought I made it perfectly clear last time about how I despise it when you mess with my garden! I have to constantly make sure that the flowers stay as beautiful as I remembered them yesterday and the day before that!"

The maid mumbled, "Well for starters, you have your gardeners work on your garden while you lounge around all day."

"Did you say something, dirt?"

The maid clenched her teeth. She absolutely hated it when she called her that. Still, she just sat there and took it saying, "Nothing. I'm sorry Midori."

"Don't you dare call me by my first name! I absolutely hate it when you call me that! Now tend to Ma Gui and stay out of trouble!" That was the last thing she said before she went back inside her mansion and slammed the doors.

The maid silently replied, "Well at least I didn't call you dirt."

The maid was a lovely seventeen-year-old woman with short black hair and shining hazel eyes. She was strong and had a gorgeous physique, though almost none of it showed through her bulky earth-kingdom style maid uniform.

She absolutely hated being stuck as someone else's cleaning lady. She wanted so badly just to throw a boulder at her and squish her like the annoying bug she was. Still, she managed to keep her cool and just reminded herself that even though Midori was a pain, she was the woman who kept a roof over her head ever since her parents died in that hit and run incident.

When she was only five years old, when not even two years managed to pass after her brother was sent to the Northern Water Tribe for extensive training, her parents told her that they were going out to buy groceries and that she would have to behave herself since they couldn't afford to pay someone to watch over her. What seemed to be just minutes later, a man dressed in a White Lotus uniform walked into the house and sat her down in a chair to talk to her about some bad news. Bad news, she still thought to herself, the understatement of the entire millennium. After about an hour of crying, the White Lotus member escorted her to a local orphanage where he promised that she would go to a nice and loving home. Then the rat-slug named Midori adopted her a few years later. Why did she adopt her? Apparently Midori and her husband were arguing about having a child, but she didn't want to actually take care of a helpless infant while he worked all day. So he managed to talk her into adopting, so she could raise a child instead of a crying baby. Though it seemed that Midori's idea of "raising" a kid meant having her become a maid in her own home.

Still, the young woman managed to brave a smile and continue on with her life. She entered the stables, which weren't too far from the mansion, and called out, "Ma Gui, it's time for lunch!"

Suddenly, a the graceful creature known as Ma Gui trotted toward the maid. Ma Gui was a horse-turtle, a horse with reptile skin and a shell on her back to function as a saddle. Ma Gui was a strong and friendly horse, at least towards the maid; Ma Gui didn't really like her actual owner, Midori, and she always did her best to try and knock Midori off her back.

While Ma Gui ate from her bucket of oats and dead flies, the maid heard someone call out her name from outside, "Hitomi!"

Hitomi raced outside to find her best friend leaning against her motorcycle. Hitomi smiled and called back, "Yuko!"

The eighteen-year-old Yuko was Hitomi's oldest, and only, friend while growing up. They lived together in the same orphanage until Midori adopted her. Yuko decided that she didn't want to leave her friend and possibly live far away from her, so she decided to abandon the orphanage so she could still see Hitomi every now and then. She was able to make money for food and an apartment by competing in fights. She was a very muscular woman and she had spent all her free time becoming stronger and practicing her own style of fighting with her handmade knuckle bracers. She first started fighting only women in the all-girl matches, but ever since she became the champion and everybody wanted to put up their strength against hers, she was allowed into the much more profitable all-men matches. She's been the champion for almost two years.

She was still very attractive with her red hair, which was just barely long enough to touch her muscular shoulders, and her chocolate brown eyes. She wore a sleeveless shirt that revealed her strong muscles, baggy brown pants that were tied to her waist by a black belt, and worn out brown hiking boots.

"So how've you been? Is Midori still treating you like a slave?" Yuko asked.

Hitomi shrugged and replied, "She's just being an annoying spider-roach."

"You know, you don't have to put up with her. I make enough cash for both us to live under the same roof."

Hitomi crossed her arms and smirked at her friend. They both knew that she didn't make enough money to support two people. Herself, yes, but fights in their town aren't that profitable; maybe in Ba Sing Se or Republic City, but definitely not here. Heck, the only way she got the motorcycle was because some moron lost it to her by gambling during a fight.

Yuko understood her friend's facial expression and made a suggestion, "You want to head into town and get some noodles for lunch? I'm starved; spent the whole day training for next week's fight."

"Sure! Sounds like fun." Hitomi was really hungry and she needed a break from Midori for a while. Besides, she loved to have an excuse to ride Ma Gui into town. Hitomi went back to the stables and came back out riding on Ma Gui's back. The two friends rode into town and stopped at their favorite noodle shop where they ordered plain white noodles. They weren't the tastiest of lunches, but they were cheap.

On one of the open chairs, Hitomi noticed a newspaper with the headline _White Lotus Aids Water Tribe Medical Facilities_. Reading the headline, she decided to turn it into a conversation; she was worried that if Yuko forced any more noodles down her throat without swallowing, she would choke to death.

"Hey Yuko," she began, "Have you noticed that the White Lotus have been very active these past few years?"

Yuko swallowed so she could better speak, but she continued to eat as she talked, "Yeah, they're the White Lotus; it's their job to help out the world."

"I know that, but for centuries they've been a very concealed group; they mostly focus on preventing wars, dealing with political stuff, and aiding the Avatar when he or she needs it. But lately they seem to be dealing with a lot more smaller stuff than before and stepping out into the public eye more and more often. Do you think that something's going on? I mean, it would take something pretty big for the White Lotus to be this active."

Yuko swallowed another mouth-full of noodles and replied with a smirk, "Listen conspiracy nut, I'm sure the White Lotus has whatever situation it's going through under control. Right now, our biggest dilemma is figuring out how to give these noodles more flavor without me going bankrupt."

Hitomi was about to laugh at her friend's comment, but noticed a man outside getting beaten up by two other men that were much larger than him. Hitomi pointed this out to Yuko and they both ran outside to meet the two men.

"Hey!" Hitomi cried out, "Leave him alone!"

The two men stopped kicking the man who had fallen to the ground and turned to face the two girls.

One of them smirked and said, "Beat it ladies. This creep owes me money; and I don't like to get burned on deals," he then opened his hand where a small ball of fire was formed, "So instead, I'm gunna burn him for good measure!"

Yuko chuckled and asked Hitomi, "Was that suppose to be a threat?"

Hitomi smirked and replied, "It sounded more like a bad attempt at a pun."

The fire bender got really mad and threw the fireball straight at Hitomi. Hitomi swiftly kicked the ground forming a giant rock that she punched straight at the fireball. The fireball wasn't strong enough to push back on it, so the rock slammed into the fire bender, shooting him two blocks away from the shop!

The other guy called out, "So you wanna fight? Fine by me!" The man kicked the ground and a giant rock flew out from the ground. The earth bender kicked the rock straight at Yuko. Yuko quickly reached into her pocket, equipped her knuckle bracers, and threw a punch at the rock, completely shattering it! The earth bender's jaw practically dropped at the sight of his giant rock getting vaporized by a punch from a teenage girl.

Yuko asked in a puppy dog voice, "What's the matter? Are you upset that I destroyed your big bad boulder with a swift punch?"

The fire bender rapidly ran back towards them, charging a bolt of lightning in his fingertips. He called out, "Now it's time to bring the heat! This time, you'll be in for a shock!" He shot his bolt of lightning straight at Hitomi, who first rolled her eyes at his pun. She crouched down and lifted her hands into the sky, causing the earth from underneath her shot her up into the air, dodging the lightning attack. She kicked the earth at the other earth bender who managed to catch it in his hands, but he got flown back pretty far.

The fire bender exclaimed, "Now you're really starting to steam me up!" He was preparing to form another lightning bolt, but then Yuko ran straight at him and punched him right in the jaw, sending him flying towards the earth bender and they both crashed into each other.

"Quit with the puns already!" Yuko shouted.

Hitomi and Yuko ran over to the man and they helped him up. The man appeared to be fine, apart from a few bruises, and he quickly explained that he gave them an incorrect amount of money after purchasing some groceries from his shop. He was going to pay them back, but they were too stubborn and boneheaded to listen.

Hitomi and Yuko walked over to the two benders, who lay defeated on the ground, and they stared down the two bullies. They shuddered at their feminine, but obviously formidable opponents.

The fire bender, fearing his life, stuttered, "C-Come on now ladies, w-we can work out this little misunderstanding. How about a hot date?"

Hitomi stomped on the ground and the earth sharply rose underneath the two benders, which shot them straight into the sky and over a bunch of small buildings before crashing back down somewhere far away.

"Man that was great!" Yuko announced with glee, "We have to do this more often."

The two girls headed toward the noodle shop where Hitomi untied Ma Gui from the post and Yuko started up her motorcycle.

"Hitomi," Yuko said, "You know we could probably run away to Republic City or somewhere we'll be able to make money from fights. It'd be better than staying here with you being Midori's slave and me just barely making my rent."

Hitomi looked at the ground and thought about what she said. True, they could run away to someplace where they could make better money by competing in fights in a bigger city. But that's not Hitomi wanted her life to be about. She wanted to become something greater than herself; something that people would talk about for years and years to come like General and Grand Lotus Iroh or Firelord Zuko. Or even like Avatar Aang or Korra or Roku.

The two friends said their goodbyes and made their way home. Hitomi put Ma Gui back in her stable while she heard Midori call her name from inside the house. Hitomi was about to open the door when she saw that a newspaper was resting in front of the door. She picked it up and read the headline, _Avatar Whereabouts Unknown!_ She decided to read on, _The White Lotus claims that after seventeen years of constantly searching, no trace of the Avatar has been found! The world panics at hearing that the world's defender may not arrive to help us if a crisis suddenly strikes! Has the reign of the Avatar come to an end? If so, then how? When? Why? And if not, then where is the Avatar? Who is the Avatar?_

"Hitomi!" Midori screamed from inside the mansion, ceasing her from completing the article, though she gets the point the author is trying to get across.

"Oh well," Hitomi said as she laid the paper back on the doorstep and entered the house, "The Avatar has nothing to do with me."

And that makes two chapters! I hope you're enjoying the story so far and I'm going to keep at it until I've transformed this thing into an epic like no other! Until next time!


	3. Chapter 3

The White Lotus War

Chapter 3: The Diamond Is Revealed

The next morning, Midori's husband arrived home from his business meeting in Omashu. His sato-mobile pulled up to the mansion where he reunited with his wife. He was planning to talk to reporters and photographers later about the growth of his business and planned to throw a party afterwards. Midori was determined to throw the most elegant party she had ever given and rushed to wake up all of her servants.

Hitomi was still sleeping her in cot, dreaming a very unusual dream. She was walking down a winding road in the middle of a desert. When the road suddenly came to a halt, she looked around to try and find someone. Then out of nowhere, a mob of robed elders from different nations were slowly approaching her. She wanted to run out of fear, but she suddenly felt all the fear rush out of her and didn't move a muscle. A darker skinned old woman wearing water tribe armor approached Hitomi and said, "Please remember us."

At that moment, Midori burst into her room and screamed for Hitomi to wake up. Hitomi fell out of her cot, hitting her head, and rushed to get up and translate what Midori was shouting. She left before she could figure out what she was screaming about. Hitomi wondered about the dream and questioned, "What did that woman want me to remember? And why did I get the feeling that I met her somewhere before?" The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she felt like she had met all those people before, one time or another.

Still, she shook this thought out of her head and concentrated on getting ready for the new day. She washed herself up, put on her uniform, and raced outside her small room and down the stairs to find all of the maids, chefs, and gardeners lined up in perfect rows as if they were going to war.

Hitomi quickly got in line with the maids and asked one of them, "What's going on?"

The maid whispered, "The Master has come back and The Lady wants to throw a grand party for him when the reporters arrive."

Hitomi almost forgot that they actually called Midori, The Lady. She remembered that whenever Midori or another servant asked her to start calling her that, she just laughed and continued with whatever she was doing at the time.

Midori rushed into the room and everyone fell silent. Midori really made the rows feel like they were warriors planning to head into battle.

Midori even spoke as if she were a general, "Listen up! My husband's business is on the verge of gaining even more success and popularity than ever before. To celebrate, we are going to throw the most elegant party the EarthKingdom has ever seen. Everything must be perfect! Is this understood?"

Everyone said, "Yes, my Lady!"

Everyone except Hitomi who replied, "Yes, Midori."

Midori glared at her, but decided not to get into a fight with her. Hitomi assumed that this party was so important to her that she didn't want to delay any time by arguing with her. She made a mental note to herself that she could get away with some things with Midori as long as it was during an important event.

Midori listed her orders, "Maids! I want this house spotless! If I find even one spec of dust on any piece of furniture, I'll make sure that you never forget the day you defied me! Chefs! I want fifty portions of the most mouthwatering of meals you have ever made in you entire lives! If one dish does not meet my expectations, I'll make sure that you never forget the day you defied me! Gardeners! I want the outside of the house to be covered in marvelous décor with every flower shining like a star! If one inch of the décor does not meet my standards,"

Hitomi finished her sentence, "You'll make sure they never forget the day they defied you. We get it, move on."

Midori appeared to be on the verge of exploding with anger, but to Hitomi's surprise, she didn't lash out at her. She simply glared at her with great frustration and told everyone to get to work.

For the rest of the day, Hitomi and the other maids prepared the rooms for the party by cleaning up every spec of dust and decorating each room with traditional Earth Kingdom wallpaper, tables, chairs, silverware, even the paintings on the wall were taken down because the majority of them were from the Fire Nation or Water Tribe. Midori wanted everything to look so elegant and traditionally Earth Kingdom that people would mistake it for a royal Ba Sing Se party.

A few hours later when Hitomi saw that the majority of the work was done, she headed out into the gardens to practice some of her earth bending. She remembered Midori's warning about earth bending around her garden so she made sure that she was a safe enough distance away from it before she started.

While practicing the movement of her feet for specific earth bending moves, she thought about the dream she had last night. She wondered who those people were and what exactly they wanted her to remember? The woman said, "Remember us" but who were they? She thought that she had seen them before, but as the dream faded from her memory, she couldn't remember what they looked like. Hitomi became so frustrated that she stomped on the ground, creating a small rock, and chucked it without looking.

To her horror, the rock knocked off the head of the statue of Midori's husband.

Hitomi, for a moment, just stood there with her jaw dropped. How in the world was she going to fix this before the reporters got there? She stomped on the ground, creating another small rock, and attempted to shape it into Midori's husband's face. The major problem was that she didn't know who he looked like! She knew absolutely nothing about him! Not his face, name, age, job, not one thing!

"Hey Hitomi!" called out a familiar voice, "I think you dropped something." It was Yuko on her motorcycle holding up the head of the statue.

Yuko parked her bike and walked up to Hitomi and stared at the headless statue.

"Boy, she's going to be on your case for this one."

"I didn't mean to knock off the guy's head," Hitomi said with some fear in her voice, "it was an accident!"

"Calm down; it's not like you took the actual guy's head off. We'll just have to find a way to put this thing back on before…"

Too late. Midori walked outside to see how her gardeners were faring with the decorations when she saw Hitomi holding the stone head of her husband next to the headless stone figure of his body. Midori let out a large scream at the sight of it. Yuko quickly placed the head back on the statue and tried to laugh it off as if it weren't busted, but this "brilliant" idea of hers didn't stick. Midori let out another scream when she saw about four to five sato-mobiles head toward the mansion. She quickly dragged the two girls inside the house and shut the doors behind her.

The look on her face was like the face of a demon. She even asked the following question in a demonic voice, "What happened?" Both Hitomi and Yuko were about to speak, both about to take the fall for the other, but Midori stopped them for speaking by shouting, "Never mind! I don't care how it happened or who did it, but I know that outside there is a dislocated stone head sitting on top of my husband's stone body! I can't do anything to you, whoever you are, but you Hitomi, you are in a serious amount of trouble! I'm not going to allow your childishness to ruin my perfect evening!"

"But if I could explain," Hitomi managed to say before Midori silenced her.

"Be quiet you dirt! I should have known that you were nothing but trouble when I adopted you! Your parents did the right thing when they abandoned you at that orphanage! You should've rotted there forever!"

She crossed the line. Hitomi could handle every single insult, every single stupid assignment, every single mistreatment; but there was no way she was about to let her dishonor her parents.

"My mom and dad loved me from the bottom of their hearts and I loved them from the bottom of mine!" Hitomi protested.

"I can hardly imagine anyone who would dare call themselves related to you let alone love you! You're nothing but a load and I can just imagine your parent's happy expressions when they gave you up!"

"Shut up!"

"You're a waste of valuable space!"

"Shut up!"

"You're an idiotic mistake!"

"Shut up!"

"You're a useless pile of dirt with no family or future!"

"SHUT UP!"

At that moment, Hitomi's eyes were engulfed by a blue light that outshined the entire room. Midori and Yuko stood there, speechless to what they were witnessing. Hitomi clenched her fists and multiple rock walls formed around Midori. By spreading her hands and sharply forming an X with her arms, the walls turned to mud and trapped Midori within a mud ball. With the tightening of her fists, the mud turned back into rock. With the thrashing of her arms, she had the rock crash several times into different walls around the room until she grabbed the rock and threw it through the wall into the main room! Hitomi slapped her hands together, destroying the rock and revealing an injured Midori who still held her look of shock. Hitomi raised both her hands into the air and began shooting fire and air from her finger tips, raising several giant boulders from the earth below, and bended the water from the pipes behind the walls until water swirled around her! She stared at Midori with furious hatred in her eyes and was planning to strike once, and finish her. She charged at the defenseless woman with full force.

"Please!" Yuko shouted, "Stop!"

Hitomi froze as she hit the ground in front of Midori. She wanted so badly to drive each and every single element through her luxurious fabrics and furs, and finally drive them through her body for what Midori had said about her and her family. But from hearing Yuko's voice, she began to calm down, and she realized that if she did go through with it, she'd be no better than her; in fact, she'd be worse.

The light faded from Hitomi's eyes and the fire and air stopped shooting from her fingers. The water splashed down on the ground and the boulders crashed into the floor, doing a large amount of damage to the tiling.

Yuko ran up to her and hugged her best friend, asking repeatedly if she was okay.

Hitomi just stood there, shocked at what she did, and what she was about to do. She then looked at the group of reporters and photographers being lead by, who she assumed to be, Midori's husband who just stared back at her.

Everyone and everything was quiet until they all shouted, almost in unison, "It's the Avatar!"

Thanks for reading and I hope you all loved this Chapter! Tune it next time to find out how Hitomi will begin her adventure as Avatar and who her friends and enemies will be along the way!


	4. Chapter 4

The White Lotus War

Chapter 4: The Road Ahead

Yuko's apartment was small, but it was still pretty nice, though completely covered in empty noodle take-home boxes and soda cans. Her bed didn't look like it had been made in years, and it's obviously been years since she did any type of cleaning. Her bathroom was just a toilet and cheap shower, both also filthy, so she probably had to wash her hands in the kitchen sink, also unclean.

Still, it was the only place Hitomi could feel comfortable as she sat there on the bed, waiting for her friend to return. Hitomi was now dressed in her casual clothing; a plain green T-shirt over a brown leather jacket, blue jeans and brown hiking boots.

She was deep in thought about what happened yesterday. First, she had a dream about a large group of people from multiple nations; she now understood that those people must have been past Avatars and the old woman in water tribe armor must've been Korra. Then, after Midori openly insulted her and her family, she became so enraged that she entered the Avatar State and nearly tore her apart. Thankfully, Yuko's voice was able to get through to her.

"But what if she didn't", Hitomi asked herself, "What if she wasn't able to stop me?" Hitomi shuddered. She knew the answer already; she just didn't want to say it.

The door opened and Yuko walked into the apartment with a huge grin and a newspaper in her hands. She said cheerfully, "Hey Hitomi! Guess who's on the front page of every newspaper in the Earth Kingdom!"

Hitomi didn't have to guess, there was only one thing that the entire Earth Kingdom would want to talk about. When Yuko showed her the headline, she was right. On the page was her face taken by one of the photographers at the party. The headline read, _Avatar Hitomi Has Been Found!_

She still remembered how every single person in the room bombarded her with questions. Even Midori's husband wanted to know why his adopted daughter didn't tell him she was the Avatar. First of all, he was barely ever home and when he was, he never spoke to her. Secondly, she didn't know that she was the Avatar until she almost killed Midori in the Avatar State. She didn't know how to take all the pressure.

Then something really weird happened. While Yuko was trying to get everyone to get off her case, Midori escorted Hitomi out of the room and into a separate guest room. Hitomi was about to say that she was sorry for injuring her, but Midori just told her, very calmly, to pack her things, take enough money for supplies, and leave; she even allowed her to take Ma Gui as transportation. Hitomi couldn't believe what she was hearing; was Midori actually helping her? Was it because she was afraid of her? Was it because she felt ashamed of mistreating the Avatar? She didn't know, because Midori never once looked at her when she spoke; she had her back to her the entire time. When Hitomi left however, she thought she heard Midori crying. She couldn't confirm it though, Midori still held her back to her.

Hitomi barely understood anything that happened last night. Still, she decided to read the paper since Yuko had decided to purchase one for her. The article read, _The new Avatar, Hitomi Mizutamari, was recently discovered when she entered the Avatar State at a residential party. We were unable to meet with the Avatar who left the party later. The owner of the household had this to say, "Hitomi has always been a treasure of mine and I've always held her dear to my heart ever since my wife and I adopted her from a local orphanage. I always knew that she would grow up to be something great!" _(Hitomi growled at her "loving" father's statement before she read on) _We also wished to conduct an interview with the owner's wife, but she declined the opportunity. _(Hitomi was shocked. Midori actually gave up the chance for fame and bragging rights of being related to the Avatar? That wasn't like her. Maybe she was more complicated than she had thought. Hitomi continued reading) _Though we are unsure of where the Avatar may be, rest assured that the Avatar is here and ready to protect the world!_

Hitomi put the paper down and was at least thankful that Hitomi's adopted parents didn't get their names said in the paper. Still, she was sure that Midori's husband would surely make certain that everyone knew that it was him so he can claim bragging rights. She was still amazed that Midori didn't do the same; I mean, she knew that Midori despised her, but did she truly despise her so much to not claim fame to discovering the Avatar? Hitomi wondered about why Midori's husband would take the glory while she didn't; that wasn't like Midori at all.

Then it hit her; Hitomi knew almost everything about Midori, but she knew absolutely nothing about her husband. Despite how awfully she treated her, Midori was still there and she still accepted the fact that Hitomi existed. She was unforgivably rude and inconsiderate, but Hitomi could actually remember one or two instances when Hitomi got hurt or into trouble and Midori actually showed signs of compassion; not much and she was still rude about it, but it was noticeable. Midori always criticized her work more than her other maids and punished her when she did something wrong, but she also gave her a slight nod of appreciation when she performed a job correctly. Midori wasn't a good mother or a good person, but maybe she wasn't _that_ bad of a person.

Still, Hitomi knew that she had to leave this life of hers behind. She had learned that she was the new Avatar, and it was her turn to uphold the history of all the Avatars that had come before her. She didn't know what she had to do during her reign as Avatar, but she did know that before an Avatar had to take up the responsibilities of protecting the world, she had to master all four elements.

"I guess I'll have to head to the Fire Nation," Hitomi finally said to Yuko, "That's the best place I can find a fire bending teacher to learn from."

Yuko smirked and said, "Well you're not going it alone. I'm going with you, no arguments or protests!"

Hitomi smiled. She was so fortunate that she did have at least one friend in the entire world that would always have her back. She knew that Yuko was strong and could easily handle herself in a struggle so there were no protests about her tagging along. The only nagging question, which Yuko brought up, was, "Now, how exactly are we going to get to the Fire Nation on a horse-turtle and a motorcycle?"

Almost on cue, a gust of wind blasted the door open and an old man with air bender arrow tattoos in a White Lotus robe charged in shouting, "Avatar! The White Lotus has arrived to aid you in your time of need!" Yuko, quickly reacting out of shock, punched the old geezer in the face and sent him crashing through the wall!

Another man in a White Lotus robe, with short white hair, a thick white beard and golden eyes, entered the apartment after the other old man was thrown out of the apartment. He was very muscular with a huge build by the size of the muscles on his arms. He carried a hilted sword on his sash that appeared to be of Fire Nation origin. He bowed to the girls and Yuko put her guard down.

He said softly, "Avatar Hitomi, it is an honor. The White Lotus has been searching for you for seventeen years. You have no idea how happy and relieved I am to finally see and meet you."

Hitomi stood up from the bed and bowed back to the White Lotus member. The other old man reentered, rubbing his nose.

"Man," the old man said to Yuko, "You didn't have to punch me so hard! I think I have a nose bleed!"

"Serves you right for just barging into my apartment!" Yuko replied.

"Please forgive Meelo," the other man said to Yuko, "He likes to do things his own unique way."

Yuko looked like she was about to give an apology, but then Meelo proceeded to picking his nose, grossing everyone out.

"Anyway," Hitomi continued to the other old man, trying to ignore Meelo, "Why are you here? Are you going to teach me fire bending?"

"Sadly Avatar, the White Lotus has been very busy these past few years due to some, minor difficulties. Meelo and I are on our way to Ba Sing Se right now."

"What kind of difficulties?" Hitomi asked. She never got an answer.

"So why are you two here?" Yuko asked.

Meelo laughed and said, "Like I said before I was rudely punched out, we're here to help you! The White Lotus has taken the liberty of allowing you to sail on one of our smaller custom built ships to travel to the Fire Nation and any other destination you need to go to when traveling overseas!"

Yuko's face brightened up, "Really? We're going to get our own ship?"

"Yes," the other old man explained, "With a crew of White Lotus acolytes ready to assist you in any way possible. Meet them at Tyro Town and they'll take you across the Mo Ce Sea toward the Fire Nation. You'll be there in a matter of days."

Hitomi bowed to the old man and said, "Thank you so much for your kindness."

The old man bowed back and said, "It was my pleasure to assist you, Avatar Hitomi."

Meelo laughed and said, "Don't sweat it! It's always good to help other people out! That's what us old guys in blue and white robes are here for!" He uncontrollably laughed at his comment as he exited the apartment.

Before the old man left, he turned to Hitomi and said, "Just an idea; when you get to the Fire Nation, head to the capital and find a man with a sword like mine named Shoji. I think he'll be a good teacher for you." Then he left without another word.

Yuko looked back at Hitomi and said, "Well, I guess this is where the new Team Avatar begins their journey."

Hitomi nodded and started to reflect on everything that had happened to her in the past. Her brother was sent away when she was only three, her parents were killed when she was only five, she rotted in an orphanage for four years, and finally Midori drained the life out of her for the remaining nine. Hitomi had a hard and cruel past, but the future was finally starting to seem bright. She was finally going to do something with her life and show the world just how much she could shine.

Hitomi Mizutamari was determined to become the greatest of all Avatars.

All right, the chapter is done! Four chapters are now out of the way and I'd be so appreciative if you would leave me a review to tell me how much you love (or hate, but I would much prefer love) this story so far! I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I hope you're having fun with me! See you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

The White Lotus War

Chapter 5: Off To A Rocky Start

Hitomi loved feeling the wind blow through her hair as she rode on Ma Gui's back on the clear mountain road. She always felt so alive while riding on Ma Gui's back, whether it was a simple trot through town or galloping through this rocky terrain heading toward Tyro Town. Ma Gui was as fast as she was strong and graceful.

Looking back, Hitomi could see that the young woman on her motorcycle who she was racing with was slowly gaining up on her. She knew that Ma Gui was fast enough to out run Yuko's motorcycle, but she figured that Ma Gui was starting to get a little tired. Looking ahead, she could see a small village which would be perfect to buy some supplies from before they continued to Tyro Town.

Yuko slowly passed her and shouted out, "I'll meet you at the village, slowpoke!" She then started zooming away; another hint that Ma Gui was getting tired.

She petted Ma Gui and said, "Don't get tired yet girl! There's a village just up ahead, so let's show Yuko just how fast you can really go!"

In response, Ma Gui started picking up speed. In a matter of seconds, Ma Gui had almost caught up with Yuko and was beginning to pass her. Yuko wasn't ready to give up and she leaned forward, trying to get some extra speed. The village was just a few yards away and both girls could taste victory on their lips. Just inches before entering the village, where a guy was yelling at them to stop before they crash into something or someone, Ma Gui managed to pass Yuko and enter the village first. Yuko slammed on her brakes and just barely managed to not hit an old man with a cane.

The old man yelled, "These annoying kids today! You almost got an old man killed you hooligan!" He then started hitting her with his cane, all the while she was pleading that she was sorry and begged him to stop hitting her.

Hitomi also tried to slow down Ma Gui before she accidentally hit someone, but when Ma Gui spotted a puddle in front of a police station, she instantly stopped to drink out of it. Hitomi was flung off of her back and she crashed through the window and into the police station. The police officers were either playing pai sho or eating something when she came crashing through the window. All the officers were on their feet, ready to bend whatever element they had at the girl.

Hitomi quickly got on her feet and said, "Easy, easy! I didn't mean to crash into this place! I swear!"

One of the officers said, "Yeah, well you're still going to pay for the damage you caused, little girl. We don't go easy on anybody."

"I'm sorry," Hitomi begged, "I really am."

One of the other officers looked at her more closely and froze in fear. He was trying to say something to the other officers, but he couldn't get the words out. Therefore, the officers ignored him.

Another officer said to Hitomi, "So you better pay up, or we'll send you to the Chief. Then you'll be singing a different tune."

Hitomi replied, "Singing a different tune? I just came here for some supplies. I'll gladly pay for the damage and get out of your way."

The officer who was trying to say something suddenly ran out of the room and came back with a newspaper. He poked an officer on the shoulder, trying to get his attention.

The officer that was being poked said, "Watch you tone young lady. You don't want to get us mad. We've been trained by experts and we've got powerful allies, so you better," The man grew frustrated with the constant poking and turned to the officer and yelled, "What?"

The officer showed him the headline picture and pointed at Hitomi. The officer quickly glanced at her and the picture a few times before he cried out, "It's the Avatar!" and then quickly bended a large amount of water from several different cups and splashed Hitomi back through the window she entered from!

Another officer jumped out of the window and shot fire at Hitomi, who just barely managed to dodge. Hitomi punched the ground and the ground shot out from under the officer, sending him flying through the air!

Another officer came out through the door and shot multiple fireballs at Hitomi; all of them she managed to dodge before another officer jumped out of the window, stomped on the ground, formed a rock from the earth, and threw it Hitomi. She managed to catch it, but then an officer bended the water from his water bottle and struck Hitomi, sending her crashing into a park bench! Citizens began fleeing into their homes in fear.

An officer was about to shoot more fire at her until Yuko drove her motorcycle toward the officers, jumped off, and the bike managed to knock a total of four of them off their feet and hit the ground!

"What's the big idea?" Yuko yelled at the officers. She didn't get an answer. An officer bended some of the water out of his water bottle and hit Yuko's hand, and then he clenched his hand, turning the water into ice. Yuko charged at the water bender and punched him right in the gut, breaking the ice off her hand and sending the officer crashing into another officer! Another officer kicked the ground, sending a pile of rocks flying at Yuko. Hitomi stepped in front of Yuko, put her hand out to stop the rocks, and then flung them back at him with full force. The officer jumped out of the way in time, but then Hitomi kicked the ground, sending one big rock shooting out of the earth. It hit the officer in the face and sent him flying!

Every officer was moaning in pain on the ground except for one; the one that revealed her to be the Avatar but couldn't manage to speak out of shock. The two girls walked toward the officer and stared him down. Yuko picked him up by the shirt and said, "You didn't answer my question. What's the big idea?" She still never got an answer, but this time it was because the officer fainted.

Yuko threw the officer on the ground and asked Hitomi, "What happened?"

Hitomi replied, "I don't know. I accidentally crashed through the window, they demanded I pay for the damage, and then they started attacking me when they figured out that I was the Avatar."

A few of the citizens slowly came back outside and slowly approached the two girls. A man with extremely short brown hair and a full brown beard approached Hitomi and asked, "Did you say that you were the Avatar?" Hitomi nodded in response and he turned to everybody and shouted, "It's the Avatar!" Everyone cheered and gathered around Hitomi and Yuko.

Then everyone fell silent again when they heard police sirens slowly getting louder. The man with the beard said to the crowd, "Get the horse-turtle and motorcycle to the base!" A few people nodded and retrieved the animal and vehicle while the others retreated to their homes. He turned to Hitomi and said, "Quickly Avatar! We have to get out of here before they spot you!"

"Who are they?" Hitomi asked.

"I'll explain along the way." the bearded man said as he opened the sewer lid in the middle of the street. He jumped in and Hitomi and Yuko followed. The sewer was as black as a pit and Hitomi could just barely see Yuko and the bearded man after Yuko placed the lid back on. Luckily, the bearded man turned out to be a fire bender when he snapped his fingers and formed a small fire in the palm of his hand.

As they walked down the disgusting and smelly sewer, the bearded man filled the two girls in, "My name is Chao, and I've been leading a small group of people who are trying to fight against the monsters controlling this town. This quiet village use to be a friendly little place, easily looked over by most travelers, but everyone who grew up here loved this place."

Hitomi asked, "So what happened?"

"Some guy that calls himself the Chief took over our village literally overnight. The man had an unbelievably large and highly skilled group of men, so he basically took over the town with ease. He's been our unofficial mayor ever since."

"That's tyranny!" Yuko exclaimed, "Shouldn't someone send for help?"

"People tried. But every time someone tried to run away or send a messenger hawk, they were jailed and sent to the Chief. We don't know what happens to people who are sent to the Chief, but I'm sure it's no picnic. That monster cut off this village from the rest of the world and made sure that if anybody entered, they would instantly become part of his imprisoned town. I drove into this town because I had a flat tire and needed a repair. That was four years ago. Ever since, I've been rallying every brave citizen left to fight off these guys, but we still need numbers in order to beat them." He stopped, turned toward Hitomi and said, "Avatar, I'm begging you, please help these people."

Hitomi placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "You don't have to beg. I won't just stand here and let these people harm anyone else."

Yuko added, "Yeah, we're not defenseless little girls who run away from fights. It'll be our pleasure to kick these guys out of town."

Chao smiled and lead them through the sewers until they arrived at a specific sewer lid with a red X painted on it. Chao opened the lid and lifted himself out. He helped Hitomi and Yuko out of the sewers and said, "Welcome to our base. Your pet and bike are outside."

The base was apparently large basement filled with training equipment being used by young men and women benders who practiced their fighting skills. There weren't very many of them, put they all appeared to be in good shape and their bending wasn't that bad or at least as far as Hitomi and Yuko knew. The non-benders were boxing with each other and wrestling.

Hitomi asked, "Are these the only volunteers?"

Chao nodded and replied, "These are all the benders and non-benders in town that aren't afraid to fight back. The others who aren't afraid to join are either too young or old to fight. Except for that one old guy who seems more than qualified to fight."

He pointed to an old man with a cane who just won a boxing match against a younger and physically better looking man. The old man stared back at the girls and glared, recognizing Yuko. Yuko in turn noticed him and froze on the spot in fear.

Hitomi asked, "Someone you know?"

Yuko stuttered, "W-We met briefly."

Hitomi took time to gather her thoughts. What did she know? She knew that a guy called the Chief assembled a large gang and took over the village years ago in a sudden swoop. The Chief doesn't allow anyone to leave and anyone who comes in doesn't come out. Anyone who opposes him gets imprisoned and taken away. While thinking this over, a question popped into her head.

"Why?"

Chao was caught off guard, "What?"

"Why did this Chief want to take over this village so badly? He sounds like a smart enough guy for him to take over a town in the blink of an eye. If he wanted to become a tyrannical dominator, I could easily see him wanting to grow his power and take over several more towns. So why did he only want control of this one village?"

Chao thought about this, but he was obviously stumped and admitted, "I have no idea."

This question did annoy Hitomi, but she figured that one of the most important priorities right now was to rescue the imprisoned citizens from the Chief.

Hitomi asked, "Do you have absolutely no idea where these guys take the prisoners after they're arrested?"

"No, they just hold them at the station until a truck picks them up in the middle of the night. I don't know where the truck goes. I imagine that they take them to wherever the Chief lives, but I'm not certain."

Hitomi walked into the middle of the room and called out, "Listen up everyone!" Everyone gathered around Hitomi and listened, "If we're going to stop this tyranny, we have to stop the Chief. To do that, we have to figure out why he took over this village. I think that the Chief's location and master plan can be found by tailing one of the trucks. In order to do this, I'm planning on turning myself in."

Everyone gasped and Yuko said, "No! If you're arrested, the Chief won't let you live!"

"She's right," Chao agreed, "The Chief may have taken rebels prisoner, but he'll surely destroy you once he gets his hands on you. He won't risk the Avatar breaking out and leading a rebellion. If your plan involves someone playing decoy, I'll volunteer."

"No," Hitomi said abruptly, "You're the leader of this group. You can't allow yourself to be caught. These people need you to lead them into battle when the time comes." Everyone in the room grunted in agreement.

"Well if neither of us can risk getting arrested, then who's going to play decoy?"

"I have a suggestion," the old man with the cane said as he pointed his cane at Yuko. Everyone immediately looked at her.

Yuko warned, "There better be someone standing behind me."

"Come on," Chao pleaded, "You'd be perfect. The Chief wouldn't dare harm you since you're the Avatar's friend; he'll probably keep you around as a bargaining chip."

"Please Yuko," Hitomi begged, "I promise you'll be in and out in no time!"

Yuko stood there stubbornly for a few seconds, until she was weighed down by everyone's eyes staring at her. She said to the old man with hatred in her eyes, "You're not going to get away with this you old buzzard." The old man then proceeded to hit her on the head with his cane.

Chapter Five is now complete! I hope you guys loved it! Please leave a review and come back next time when we see Hitomi attempt to take down the Chief!


	6. Chapter 6

Note: I'll make this note quick. Later in the story, the story perspective is going to switch from Hitomi's point of view to Yuko's. I just wanted to give you a heads up. ENJOY!

The White Lotus War

Chapter 6: A Shocking Discovery

Hitomi and Chao hid behind the dumpster in the alleyway as the night became older with each passing second. They patiently waited there, watching the police station with great eagerness, until a massive truck pulled up and stopped in front of it. Hitomi and Chao watched as a mouth covered Yuko was forced into the back of the truck. As the truck engine roared, Hitomi and Chao quickly raced across the street and jumped on the side, holding on as the truck moved toward its destination.

The truck began to head out of the village and over the hills just a little ways south. When the truck reached the peak of the hill, they could see a giant dome made out of steel surrounded by barbed wire. Guards were patrolling it and every entrance had security forces ready to attack if something went wrong. Whatever the Chief had inside that dome, he didn't want anyone else to have it.

"Has the dome always been there?" asked Hitomi.

Chao answered, "No, the people in the village have always told me that there was nothing out here except wildlife. That dome must've been built after the Chief took over. It must've taken a while to build though, that fortress is huge."

"Okay, you go and gather the rebels. I'll sneak in and see what this guy is up to. We'll rendezvous back here and plan an attack."

"Be careful." Chao jumped off the truck, hid in the bushes, and waited for the truck to be a little farther away before rushing back to the village.

As the truck made its way closer and closer to the dome, Hitomi decided to hide underneath the truck so there would be a less likely chance of getting caught. She knew that she'd have to abandon the truck before it entered the dome so she could enter it from above and see what was going on. As the truck slowly stopped in front of the dome, Hitomi gulped and hoped that the guards wouldn't check underneath the truck. Luckily, all the guards did was check that Yuko hadn't escaped and they let the truck through. As the massive garage door started to open, Hitomi checked both sides of the truck to make sure that there were no guards. When she confirmed it, she let go of the truck and fell to the ground with a gentle thud. The truck passed and Hitomi immediately hid herself behind a crate that was lying next to a big pile of others.

Hitomi decided to check inside the crate to find out if there was a clue to what the Chief was up to in it. She bended a thin piece of rock from the earth below and used it like a crowbar to open it. Inside, there were massive bits and pieces to some sort of machine. She didn't have time to ponder what it could've been because two guards were slowly coming her way. She put the lid back on and waited behind the crate until they passed. When they were out of her sight, she shot her hands up in the air and the ground beneath her sharply rose, sending her flying through the night sky. She landed gently on the top of the dome, so nobody knew she was there.

But then a problem caught her by surprise; there was a guard patrolling the rooftop! Luckily, he didn't know she was there. The only earth she had to bend with was the thin rock, but would that be enough? She saw the guard change his view more towards hers and decided that she had to act quickly to avoid blowing her cover. She raced up to the guard, who saw her coming and was about yell, but she launched her piece of earth and hit him in the throat. He fell backwards, covering his injured throat, and tried to scream even though he knew it wouldn't work. Hitomi jumped into the air and came down with a direct punch to the face, knocking him out!

Hitomi turned around to find the rooftop entrance, which she took with great caution. As she slowly went down the steps, she entered what appeared to be the staff lounge. Luckily for her, the room was empty. There was a table in the middle of the room with cards all over it and an icebox that was left open revealing a few bottles of some kind of drink. The cool thing about the room was that the wall to her right was just a giant window overlooking…

Tanks. Huge tanks being constructed by slaves of the village. Hitomi could barely move and the horrid sight she saw. The men of the Chief watched as their slaves constructed massive killing machines. Men, women, elders, even small children were being forced to make weapons of mass destruction that could begin another war.

Move, Hitomi told herself, you have to get out of there and get back to Chao so you can stop this! Hitomi was finally able to snap out of it and she got out of there as quickly as possible.

[Yuko]

Yuko was forced out the truck by two large men who forced her down onto the steel floor. Yuko was worried about the floor being made of steel because she knew that Hitomi couldn't bend metal. But that worry was massively outweighed by her surroundings. She saw tanks being built by the enslaved citizens of the village. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing and wanted to punch someone so badly.

Still, she managed to stay calm as another man approached her. He looked like an ogre with his massive muscles and even more massive stomach; his Earth Kingdom style steel armor barely managed to fit him. His face was like looking at a pile of vomit; he had no hair, his eyes were an unattractive yellowy green, and when he smiled, his teeth were the same color as his eyes. She could even smell his wretched breath as he looked at her. She couldn't believe she didn't throw up after just a few seconds of looking at him.

"Chief," one of the guards holding her said to the monster standing in front of her, "This woman is friends with the Avatar. What do you want us to do with her? Should we put her to work with the rest?"

"Nah," the Chief said in a deep voice, "We've already got enough worthless morons working on the Boss' toys."

"Then what should we do with her?"

The Chief pondered about what to do with the girl, and then asked, "Is the Doctor still stationed nearby?"

"Yes sir, but he's planning to leave for Republic City later tonight."

"Still, send him a messenger hawk asking if he wants to use this girl as one of his test subjects. If he says no, we'll just kill the girl."

Yuko shivered in fear. She thought that she would be kept prisoner until she was useful against Hitomi or forced to work for him. But instead, he's just going to kill her?

"B-But it's the Avatar's friend sir. She could be a useful pawn in our…"

"I honestly don't care. If the Doctor refuses the offer, just kill her and return to your posts."

Yuko didn't know what was more frightening, the fact that he was going to just sentence her to death if a note from some doctor said "no thanks", or the way he casually said, "just kill her" as if it were something he did as a hobby. Did he kill people as a hobby? Yuko was suddenly drowning in fear and despair.

Pull yourself together, she shouted in her mind, Hitomi is going to save you before that happens and you'll be out of these restraints and kicking some major butt! Just hold it together…

[Hitomi]

Hitomi explained everything she saw to Chao as they raced toward the metal dome with their forces trailing behind them. Chao and a few others almost tripped from hearing that tanks were being built just outside their village. Chao was on the verge of losing it when she told him the details of the men, women and children being forced to create these things, but Hitomi told him to snap out of it and relay the plan to his troops.

Chao nodded and said, "Listen up! We're going to run in fast and hard from the center to spread their forces in half! Don't let up for one moment and make sure that everyone inside the dome is out of harm's way! Fire benders, take up the front and don't let up on any of your attacks! Water benders and non-benders, stay behind the fire benders and get as many people out as you can before entering the fight! Earth benders, except for you Avatar, stay outside and take out the security forces! We're almost in the dome's sight! Get ready!"

They managed to get just a few yards away from the dome before one the guards called out, "Intruders! An entire mob is coming right at us!" When that was said, fire and earth benders from both sides began the battle. Fortunately, their forces held up while they continually burned their enemies or knocked them unconscious with a rock. They stormed through the front entrance while security forces tried to surround them.

Chao ordered, "Earth benders, put up your defense and take down that door!" The earth benders from the sides raised their hands to form rock walls, protecting them from the security forces. Hitomi and a few other earth benders in the front kicked the ground in unison and punched upwards, causing huge rocks to shoot at the massive garage door and knock it down, revealing the tanks and the enslaved citizens building them. Hitomi saw Yuko in the center of the dome being looked over by some kind of huge beast.

Chao led the fire, water, and non-benders into the massive battle where fire and water was blasted all around them. Many of the slaves were freed and were told to leave while the fire benders charged at the Chief's fire and water bending forces. Many of their forces were knocked down, but even more of the Chief's forces were knocked down thanks to Chao's brilliant leadership and tactics.

Hitomi earth bended a few rocks from the outside before she charged at the huge beast holding Yuko prisoner, but she wasn't sure if just a few rocks were enough to take the thing down. Though as she ran closer toward it, the beast looked more and more like a human. Then she realized it _was_ a human. She could barely tell by how he looked. Still, she figured that must've been the Chief and was ready to take him down.

She threw all but one of her rocks at him at full power hoping to take him down easily. Instead, he shot the rocks away by bending some fireballs. Seeing her defeat, she turned the last rock into a sharp lance and threw at Yuko after shouting, "Go!"

Yuko swiftly got back up and kicked both of the guards holding her arms in their guts, sending them flying in opposite directions! She jumped up and grabbed the earth lance. She charged at the Chief and was ready to smack him with it, when he grabbed the other end of the lance and kicked Yuko in the gut, launching her back a few yards. Anger building inside her, Hitomi ran up to the Chief and was ready to punch him in the jaw, but he shot fire out of his hand and burned Hitomi's left side and arm. She fell to the ground in great pain. The Chief walked over to Hitomi and looked down at her with a huge smile.

He said to her, "I never would've guessed that the great Avatar could be beaten so easily. It even seemed like your little attack on my fortress would've succeeded if you weren't so weak. I think I'm actually disappointed. Oh well, time for you to die."

The Chief began to charge a bolt of lightning in his fingertips. Hitomi tried to get up, but she knew that she wouldn't get up in time before the Chief was done charging his lightning attack.

But then, the old man with the cane ran up and kicked the Chief right in his stomach making him step back a few feet! He then reached into his pocket, took out a piece of metal that he apparently took from one of those boxes, crushed it into a ball, and shot it right in the Chief's face, knocking him to the floor! He helped Hitomi up and said, "Looks like you could use some help."

Hitomi asked in amazement, "You're a metal bender?"

"Proud and retired after sixty great years of service in Republic City. Now I know you can win this fight, so show this thug you're not someone to mess with!" He then stomped on the metal ground and pushed his hands forward, causing a section of the metal floor in front of them to tear off revealing the earth underneath! He slowly closed his hands into a ball, turning the large sheet of metal into a ball. He saluted Hitomi and said, "Now finish this fight Avatar!" He then proceeded to knock out one of the Chief's water benders.

Getting her second wind, Hitomi bravely stared down the Chief, who had just gotten up and was ready to fight some more. The Chief shot fire from both his hands and Hitomi clenched both her arms together, raising a stone to protect her from the blast. She then shot the wall at the Chief who readily charged a bolt of lightning to destroy it. Before the bolt reached her, Hitomi launched herself into the air, dodging it, and stomped on the ground, shooting a rock pillar from under him, and it uppercut him and knocked him down! The Chief kicked his foot into the air, sending a vertical trail of fire at Hitomi. She dodged to her right, while the Chief stood back up and shot another fireball at Hitomi with his hand. Hitomi hit the ground and a rock shot up from the earth. Finding all of the strength inside her, she hit the rock toward the Chief; it annihilated the fire ball, and hit the Chief in the face, knocking him to the ground! He appeared to be unconscious.

Hitomi was thrilled at her victory and was about to race over to make sure Yoku was okay, but then the Chief's eyes shot open and he shot fire at her, burning her leg as she ran past him. Hitomi cried in pain and just barely managed bend a rock out of the earth before she fell to the ground. The rock hit the Chief on the back of the head and he fell back down too. Both Hitomi and the Chief struggled to get back up and finish the fight, but both of them were in a massive amount of pain. The Chief was the first one to stand up and proceeded toward Hitomi, wanting to end this battle. Hitomi saw that he was greatly injured, weak, and exhausted from fighting, so she struggled to her knees and tried to put up a defense, though her arms fought her thanks to the Chief's burns and her own exhaustion. She couldn't find the strength to bend.

At that moment, a messenger hawk swooped down and landed on the Chief's shoulder. It dropped a rolled of paper from its beak and the Chief began to read it. When he finished, the Chief smiled his most evil and disgusting smile that almost made Hitomi hurl.

He said, "Listen to this Avatar, before you came here I sent a little message asking someone if he wanted to have your friend as his pet. Apparently he refused my offer. So, before I finish you off," He found enough strength in him to run up and kick Hitomi in the face. He held up her head toward her injured friend and said, "I'm going to let you watch your friend die instead." The Chief began charging another lightning bolt, but this time he aimed it at Yuko.

No, Hitomi pleaded in her head, not Yuko. She was the only one who was there for me when I needed someone. She was the only person I cared about and the only person who cared about me. She was my best friend.

I don't want her to die.

I couldn't let her die.

I'm not going to let her die!

Hitomi's eyes suddenly turned a bright light blue that nearly blinded the Chief when she looked at him. She pushed both her hands at him and air bended him into the ceiling! The Chief started to fall and Hitomi launched herself up into the air above the Chief and shot another gust of wind from her fingertips and sent him crashing onto the metal floor below! Hitomi stretched out her hand to summon a giant rock from earth and held it in her hand, crushing it into a long spear! Yuko was still injured and unable to yell loud enough for her friend to hear her. This time, Yuko couldn't stop her. Hitomi launched herself at the Chief, ready to end him in a split second.

At that moment, Hitomi's bright blue eyes turned red and red lightning was seen coursing through her veins! She screamed at the top of her lungs, the pain she was feeling was unbearable and she felt as though she would die in seconds! Her right arm began to glow red and a word was starting to form on her arm! The word which glowed bright red on her body was the word "DELETE"!

After what seemed like years of pain, the word on her arm disappeared, the red electricity flowing through her veins finally stopped and she slowly came out of the Avatar State. She fell to the floor and saw several blurs silently calling out, "Are you okay?" to her. The blurs became less and less focused until she went into complete unconsciousness.

_"So Hitomi, you're beginning to break free of your Deletion. I'm glad. Now I'll be able to have a little more fun."_

The next day, Hitomi found herself in the base where she was being treated by a water bender who was slowly healing her wounds. Everyone else was there too; Yuko, Chao, the old metal bender with the cane, and everyone else that fought in the battle. Most of them had injuries covered by bandages, Chao looked especially beaten up with almost his entire upper and lower body being covered in bandages, but everyone seemed okay. Everyone smiled brightly when Hitomi woke up and they all gave off a slight gasp when they saw her trying to sit up.

Yuko and Chao approached her, Chao saying, "Easy Avatar, you took quite the fall after the Chief electrocuted you."

Hitomi tried to gather her memories about what happened after she entered the Avatar State, but she couldn't find any memories of what happened. She asked, "I was, electrocuted?"

Yuko answered, "Yeah. We're not sure how he did it after taking that fall, but everything's all right now. The Chief and his men have been put under lockdown in their own dome and Chao sent a messenger hawk to Ba Sing Se about what happened."

"That's right," Chao said with more enthusiasm, "Today, you helped us win back our village and now no one will ever have to live in fear again! Long live the Avatar!" Everyone cheered at his statement and Hitomi smiled as Yuko hugged her.

Everything was okay. At least for right now, everything was okay.

Chapter Six has ended with a bang! Thank you all for reading this, I hope you loved it, and please leave a review telling me how much you loved it! See what happens next time when the story continues! Bye!


	7. Chapter 7

The White Lotus War

Chapter 7: The Vanishing Act

Before leaving the village, Hitomi and Yuko said their goodbyes to Chao and the rest of the citizens. Everyone left on good terms, minus Yuko and the old man. Hitomi asked Chao what he was planning to do with his freedom, and he said that everyone elected him to be the new leader of the village. All of the fire benders were planning on staying to help reconstruct the town and watch over the Chief and his forces, so Hitomi couldn't ask them about teaching her fire bending. Hitomi and Yuko rode out of the village, waving goodbye to Chao and everyone else as they left, and headed toward Tyro Town.

While Hitomi rode on Ma Gui toward the city just lying up ahead, she couldn't help but wonder about what happened during her fight with the Chief. She remembered him burning her, the old man saving her, she clearly remembered her battle with the Chief and how amazing she felt when she thought she beat him, then the Chief burned her leg, a messenger hawk with a note that made him want to kill Yuko, and the last thing she remembered was going into the Avatar State. Everything after that was a blank.

Hitomi couldn't figure out why she didn't remember. She remembered what happened when she went into the Avatar State the first time. She remembered becoming furious with Midori, she remembered trapping her in a rock and thrashing her around the room, she remembered looking into her fear covered eyes as she was ready to kill her with all four elements, and finally she remembered Yuko's voice snapping some sense back into her brain. Hitomi remembered all of it, even though she wished that she could just forget about how monstrous she became.

Hitomi was starting to become afraid of the Avatar State, of all that power being fueled by her anger and hatred. She questioned if she could ever learn to use that power without possibly getting someone killed. Then she started thinking about the Chief's tank operation; why did he need so many machines of war? Was he planning on becoming some sort of world dominator like the Phoenix King? Hitomi knew that wasn't right, the pieces of the tanks were crated in large parts; they were sent to him by someone else. Was there some sort of big war going on that she didn't know about? She knew that wasn't right, even the White Lotus couldn't hide a massive war from the public eye. Or could they? They certainly were a well organized and well put together group of great masters. But if there was some sort of big war going on, why were they stepping out into the light instead of hiding the dark, ready to strike down their enemies? And why wasn't she told about it when those two old guys came to the apartment back in her hometown? She was the Avatar, so she had the right to know, didn't she?

Hitomi was so overwhelmed with questions that she slowed down Ma Gui to a stop in order to think. Yuko zoomed past her and quickly came back. She saw her friend in deep thought and asked, "Are you okay?"

Hitomi stayed silent for a moment, and then she replied, "Being the Avatar is a lot more difficult than I imagined. At first, I thought the Avatar was supposed to just bring peace or fight off dangerous threats to the world. But I'm not so sure of that anymore. I feel that something bigger is going on and I don't have a clue what it is. I'm kind of scared."

Yuko stayed silent for a moment, but then smiled and said, "Don't sweat it so much, it's just been three days since you figured out you were the Avatar. So we're a little behind on the whole Avatar thing, so what? You're one of the smartest people I know, you'll figure out what you need to do when the time comes. But for right now, let's keep our focus on having fun at the Fire Days Festival tonight! You haven't forgotten, have you?"

A smiled glowed on Hitomi's face. She had completely forgotten about the Fire Days Festival. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about something so important to the both of them! Every year since they met at the orphanage, Hitomi and Yuko had talked about going to the Fire Days Festival and seeing some of the amazing culture of the Fire Nation. They never got the chance to realize that promise with Midori keeping an eye on Hitomi, but it looked like they were finally going to get to see the Fire Days Festival after all these years!

"Right!" Hitomi exclaimed with joy, "We're finally going to the Fire Days Festival!"

"Race you there!" Yuko shouted as she stepped on the gas and sent her motorcycle flying across the road.

"All right Ma Gui," Hitomi said to her loyal companion, "We have a festival to go to and a friend to beat to it! Let's ride!" Ma Gui happily raced after Yuko, both of the girls completely forgetting what happened last time they charged into a town at full speed.

This time, instead of riding along an empty mountain road in the middle of the day, the two girls were met by a long traffic line of sato-mobiles trying to get into the beautifully lit city as the sun slowly began to set over the horizon. Hitomi and Yuko zoomed around the sato-mobiles, causing a few drivers to yell angrily at them for just passing by the cars since they were waiting there longer. Still, the girls were far too excited to worry about the complaints of the drivers, though they did give up their race and slowed a little to calm them down a bit.

When they finally entered the city, their eyes widened with complete wonder and amazement. The city was so much more spectacular than they saw in pictures. The skyscrapers were tall and lighted with red Fire Nation torches and streamers that were everywhere they looked! They saw people in masks shooting off their own miniature fireworks and eating exotic Fire Nation food, both the fireworks and food burning some of them! They saw fire benders juggling and swallowing fire, daggers, and daggers set on fire! It was everything they dreamed it would be and more! Two neatly dressed gentlemen offered to take Ma Gui to a stable and said they'd park Yuko's motorcycle with the sato-mobiles. After that was taken care of, the two girls looked around and just admired all the fun things to watch and do.

"I don't know where to start!" Hitomi said in amazement.

"I do!" Yuko said running over to a food stand giving away free samples of some unknown delicacy. Yuko pointed at the red spheres and asked the woman running the stand, "What are those?"

The woman replied with a fast voice that made you instantly realize that she was good at being a salesperson, "Well my good customer, these are rock hard fire chocolates! Made by my own two hands at the Crimson Candy Corp. at the east side of town! Go ahead and try one! Be careful, they're the type of candy you have to suck on so if you chew on them, they can break your-" Her jaw dropped as Yuko happily took two samples of them and crushed them easily with her teeth without any difficulty. The woman stuttered the last word in her sentence, "T-t-teeth."

Yuko laughed and asked, "I thought these Fire Nation foods were supposed to burn my throat! This stuff isn't doing a thing to me! It's actually pretty sweet!"

The woman, losing her fast paced voice because she was still in amazement that Yuko easily chomped on her extremely hard candy, said, "Well, fire chocolates don't really kick in until after you swallow. They say the aftertaste can briefly turn anyone into a fire bender."

Yuko swallowed and asked, "Really? Why's that?" Yuko got her answer as her eyes began to water and throat began to burn. She spit out a quick burst of fire from her mouth, burning one of the Fire Nation style lamps on the stand! Luckily, there was a bucket full of water off to the side of the stand; Yuko dunked her head in it and began chugging down water while the stand owner quickly started splashing water on the burning lamp until the fire finally died out.

Hitomi, despite the recent chaos, gladly picked one of the rock hard fire chocolates up and was about to eat it when the stand woman asked with a big smile, "Hey, you're the Avatar! I don't believe it! The Avatar is eating food at my stand!"

Hitomi put the chocolate in her pocket and replied, "Yeah, that's me, Avatar Hitomi. I'm traveling to Tyro Town in order to hop a boat to the Fire Nation so I can find a fire bending teacher. Unless, do you know any fire benders here that could teach me one or two things before I go?"

"I'm very sorry, but I'm certain that the majority of fire benders here are entertainers, not warriors."

"Oh well," She turned to Yuko who still had her head in the bucket of water, "Hey Yuko, if you're done soaking your hair, I want to see where we can get some of those cool masks."

As Yuko came back up for air, the stand owner said, "Hey, I have some masks in a box back here! No charge!" She then grabbed two Fire Nation decorated masks from behind the stand. Hitomi took them both, put the cuter one on her, and gave the other to Yuko who complained that she didn't get the cuter one.

As they passed through the crowds, Hitomi focused on all the fun that everybody was having around her. There was a really great fire juggler juggling a total of eight spikes that were set on fire! He did a double back flip and caught four spikes in each hand before taking a bow. Hitomi and several others cheered for the juggler as he jumped off his small soap box and asked people for money.

Hitomi asked, "Wasn't that amazing Yuko?" Then she turned to her right to find that Yuko wasn't there! She started to panic and looked all around for her friend, but not finding one trace of her!

"Great," she complained to herself, "Just great. I just had to take my eyes off of her for ten seconds." One would think she was exaggerating, but it actually had only been ten seconds.

Hitomi quickly raced through the crowds, yelling out Yuko's name, when some obnoxious little boy decided to throw tiny explosives at her feet, making her trip backwards. Luckily, she was caught by someone behind her.

"Thanks," Hitomi said as she turned around to look at the person who caught her. She felt her eyes shiver and her face turned redder than when Yuko ate that chocolate. The young man holding her in his arms was the most handsome boy she had ever seen in her life. His short blond hair gently blew in the soft wind that she hadn't noticed until now. His eyes were a soft blue; not a gorgeous crystal like her brother's, but still very attractive blue eyes. His smile seemed to glow a blinding white that seemed so calm and sincere. His voice was clear and strong, yet peaceful as he asked, "Are you okay?" She could also tell he was very strong by the way he firmly, but softly, held her in his arms.

Hitomi quickly snapped herself out of it and stood back up, trying to play it cool, even though she knew she always got real nervous around cute guys. Yuko could handle herself just fine around cute boys, but Hitomi was incredibly shy around attractive guys. Luckily she was still wearing the mask, so at least he didn't see her blush.

She laughed and said, "Yeah, I'm fine, super, incredible, never been better!" Put a sock in it, she told herself in her mind.

"Good to hear," the boy said as a small rocket went off just a few feet away. The boy quickly reached into his pocket and put on a pair of sunglasses before the rocket exploded into a red burst of fire and everyone clapped. He said, "I don't know why, but I've never been into these Fire Days Festivals; they just seem too flashy for my taste."

Hitomi lied, "Oh yeah, these Fire Days Festivals can get real old real fast. I mean they're super fun one year and the next, poof! Dull as a rock."

"Still, I do admire all the culture and effort this town puts into this festival every year. I have to give them credit for that at the very least."

"I totally agree, I love the Fire Nation culture! It's just so amazing and bright and full of so many beautiful sights and…" That was the last thing she said before a mob of people pushed past her and knocked her back toward the young man, who again caught her in his arms; she in turn blushed under her mask.

"Are you all right?" he asked the flustered Hitomi.

"Y-Yeah," she stuttered, trying to regain her cool or whatever she had before, "I just lost my balance for a second."

Looking at the crowd, the young man said, "I bet those people are going to see the magic show. Some famous magician who calls himself the New Dragon came all the way from the Fire Nation to perform here."

"That sounds like fun!" Hitomi said with the thrill for the festival refilling her voice, "You want to go?"

"Sure," the boy said with a smile, "It's not everyday you get to see a celebrity. By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Gao."

"I'm…" Hitomi questioned in her head whether or not it was a good idea to reveal that she was the Avatar. Would he freak if he learned that she was the Avatar? She didn't want to risk that. She finished her introduction with, "Midori." Really, she asked herself, Midori? That's the first person you thought of?

"Well Midori," the young man said as he led her through the crowd, "Let's see if this magician is really as good as people say he is."

Gao and "Midori" made their way through the crowd, Hitomi learning that Gao was a water bender when he started bending some water out of his water bottle and gently pushing a large amount of people out of the way so they could get through. They got to a comfortable area in the center where they could see the majority of the stage and could still see the faces of the people on stage.

Suddenly, two fire benders jumped onto the stage from both sides, quickly ran to the center, and shot a fireball at each other, creating a quick and small explosion. When the explosion cleared, there stood a tall skinny bald man with a thin black mustache so long that it measured the distance between his shoulders! He was wearing a Fire Nation style robe with flashy gold and silver accessories attached to it. Everyone cheered at the sight of him, indicating that he was the New Dragon magician.

One of the fire benders brought a microphone stand for him and he then announced in a loud and kind of whiny voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am known by many as the New Dragon, and I am so thrilled to be here today of all days to celebrate a Fire Days Festival unlike any other! Tonight, I am going unveil and attempt to complete my newest and possibly my most dangerous trick! Ladies," he called to two women in red Fire Nation dresses, "the ropes, please!" The women proceeded to retrieve him the thin layers of rope as he asked the audience, "Would anyone like to volunteer to perform this daring and life threatening feat? Who is brave enough to try and who is too afraid?" Many people raised their hands while others mumbled to the person next to them about whether or not they should volunteer.

Hitomi said, "I can't believe this guy is asking someone else to try a trick that he says is dangerous and he hasn't tried it himself!"

"I completely agree," Gao said, making Hitomi praise herself for saying something that wasn't stupid and not fake to who she actually was. Gao continued, "Who would be stupid enough to try something that the greatest magician in the entire United Republic of Nations says is possibly life threatening?"

The answer was apparently Yuko as she jumped onto the stage and yelled, "Hey Mustache Man! I'm not afraid to try out your little side show attraction!"

Though Hitomi was glad to see Yuko, she wasn't too thrilled about her leaping onto a stage and announcing that she was going to be part of his act. Still, the New Dragon seemed to be pleased with her bold statement and announced, "It appears this lovely and strong lady is the bravest soul in the audience! Give her a hand folks!" Everyone applauded for Yuko, who in turn pumped her fists into the air as if she won her championship fight for the third time. The ladies in dresses proceeded to tie the rope around Yuko loosely and tightly in different areas of her body.

The New Dragon said some sort of backwards phrase that lightly levitated Yuko up into the air. The audience went wild at seeing the magician break the laws of physics. But Hitomi wasn't that impressed; she knew that there had to be something on stage that everybody was missing. She looked around to see if she could find the truth to the magician's levitation act.

When she looked above the stage to see if Yuko was being lifted by wires, she saw something completely different. She saw a figure covered in black attire perched on the top of the stage looking down at the audience. He was wearing a black hood, black pants, black shoes, black sunglasses, and a black bandana over his face. He was just sitting there, scanning the audience, as if looking for someone in particular.

Hitomi quickly turned to Gao and said, "Gao, look up there!"

Gao and Hitomi looked to where she was pointing, but the dark figure was gone! He had vanished into thin air!

Gao asked, "Did you see wires? Is there some sort of pulley system lifting her?"

Hitomi was about to tell him the truth, but her nerves got the better of her and she didn't want to risk ruining the comfortableness she finally felt toward him. She giggled and said, "Yeah, I think I saw some thin wires just now!"

Gao chuckled and said, "That explains his "marvelous" trick then. You must have really good eyes to spot such thin wires. That's pretty cool."

She girlishly giggled and continued watching the show, knowing that Yuko would've punched her in the gut for giggling like such a six-year-old. Yuko was being lifted higher and higher into the air, the ropes around her starting to cover her entire body with string. Despite this, Yuko seemed completely relaxed and was actually shouting at the New Dragon to "get on with it", which he laughed to. When she was almost completely covered in rope and high in the air, the magician said another backwards phrase and Yuko started falling toward the ground! The fire benders started shooting fireballs at her as she descended, just barely missing! When she almost hit the ground, the New Dragon quickly grabbed a loose rope, pulled on it, causing every other piece of rope to fly off her body, and she disappeared! The audience roared in cheer at the amazing display of magic.

Hitomi and Gao clapped too, Gao saying, "Have to hand it to him, that was quite the trick. So Midori, did you see how he did that?"

Hitomi at first forgot she called herself Midori, but quickly remembered after a few seconds and quickly said, "Uh, no! Sorry, but I didn't catch it!"

Hitomi had to admit, the vanishing act was very impressive. But she didn't know which one was more impressive; the one with Yuko, or the one with the dark figure? Who was that dark figure? Who was he looking for in the audience?

That was her last question before someone struck her from behind and she went into unconsciousness.

Chapter Seven, done! Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you'll continue reading this story because there's a lot more fun to discover! Goodbye for now!


	8. Chapter 8

The White Lotus War

Chapter 8: Fire Casts a Shadow

Yuko was exiting the stage from the back with the New Dragon as the show came to an end and they were happily chatting with each other. Yuko complimented him on his trick while the New Dragon complimented her on her bravery even while falling from an uncertain height.

"Say," the New Dragon said with enthusiasm, "How would you like to be my leading assistant? You'd make quite the star attraction in the Fire Nation and I'll even pay you top dollar!" The two Fire Nation girls who were just exiting overheard his offer and they both slapped him in the face and walked away with anger burning in their eyes.

"Sorry," Yuko said as she laughed at his pain, "But I'm not a showgirl. I just always enjoy taking every chance to prove that I'm braver and stronger than any girl or guy in the world."

The New Dragon sucked in his pain and said, "I sure wouldn't want to pick a fight with you! Well, I have to go and get some ice for my face. Goodbye Yuko." He then walked away, rubbing the injured areas of his face.

Yuko started walking towards the fading audience, hoping to find Hitomi somewhere in the big crowd of people, and she was intercepted by a handsome young man with blond hair and cool sunglasses.

"I have to admit," he said, "That was a pretty impressive performance."

"Thanks, but I bet you can't guess how it was done." Yuko teased.

The young man said, "Not the actual disappearance, but I do know how the levitation was done. Those girls somehow connected wires to you while they were tying ropes to you; that's how you were levitated."

Yuko made a buzzing noise and said, "Wrong! You lose!"

"Don't try and cover it up for him, a girl I was with saw those wires being hidden by the stage lights."

"Well then, your girlfriend is as dumb as a box of rocks!"

"Watch you mouth, and she's not my girlfriend, she was just some girl I met in passing. By the way, have you seen her? She's a girl with a brown jacket and jeans with short black hair and beautiful hazel eyes."

Yuko was stunned, she knew that description. She asked, "Wait, was the girl you were with Hitomi?"

"No, her name was Midori."

"Midori?" suddenly, the wheels began to spin in Yuko's head. Hitomi must've bumped into this guy, gotten flustered by his good looks and gave him a fake name to cover up her Avatar status. Yuko chuckled thinking about how she must've stuttered and tripped over her sentences in order to impress this guy. The only thing Yuko didn't figure out was why she chose Midori's name.

Yuko said, "Hey, I think I know the girl you're looking for."

"You do? Do you know where she is? She kind of vanished after the performance."

Yuko chuckled again; she must've gotten too shy to stick around.

[Hitomi]

A bucket of water was thrown in Hitomi's face and she was snapped out of unconsciousness. She was in an empty alleyway with no sign of life except for the sound of the Fire Days Festival from a short distance away. The mask had been taken off her face and was lying next to her. Above her stood the dark figure she saw before, holding the bucket of water that woke her up.

Hitomi kicked the ground and a rock came up straight from under the figure. But the figure was unbelieveably quick and jumped out of the way just a moment before it hit him.

"Wait!" the man said in a silent tone, "I'm not your enemy!"

"Then why did you knock me unconscious?" Hitomi asked impatiently, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"My codename is Shadow," he said as he took a pai sho piece from his pocket and showed it to her, revealing it to be a White Lotus tile. He continued, "I'm a member of the White Lotus. I'm terribly sorry for abducting you Avatar, but I need your help desperately."

"Wait, how did you know I was the Avatar when you were scanning the audience? I was wearing this mask." Hitomi picked up the mask and put it back on her face to show him how much it hid her identity.

Shadow answered, "I've been trained by a secret force of stealth professionals. I could tell you were the Avatar by identifying key positions and features of your body from the newspaper picture like your eyes and hair. Others may not be able to tell one individual apart from another in that manner, but I assure that I can tell the difference."

Hitomi was a little freaked out by the fact that a ninja kidnapped her, but she just continued, "Uh, okay, question number two; why didn't you just walk up and ask me if I could help you instead of, you know, kidnapping me?"

"I didn't want to resort to it, but I have to keep myself under as much cover as possible. I didn't want to risk blowing my cover by stepping out into the light. The White Lotus is doing too much of it already."

"Hey," Hitomi asked while taking off her mask, remembering a question she had earlier today, "Why are the White Lotus stepping into the light? Is something going on?"

"No," Shadow answered abruptly, "Nothing is going on."

"Tanks being made in the middle of the EarthKingdom isn't nothing!"

Shadow remained silent, and then said, "I can't tell you specifics, but something is happening in the Earth Kingdom and we're afraid it's going to escalate. We know that the problem at hand is our responsibility, which is why I can't tell you what it is. I'm sorry Avatar, but this is something the White Lotus has to handle alone; for now at least."

"But," Hitomi wanted to know more, but Shadow held up his hand and told her to not ask any more questions. Shadow said that if she wanted to help out the White Lotus, she would have to come with him. Hitomi agreed since it was her duty as the Avatar to assist the world however she could and followed Shadow down the alleyway.

After coming to a dead end, Shadow asked Hitomi to shoot them up to the tall building over the wall. Hitomi punched her fists into the air and the ground underneath them shot up, sending them both flying through the sky until they landed on the tall building right next to an even taller building labeled, "Lang Industries".

Shadow filled her in, "I've been investigating a man named Fu Lang, who began his industry not more than four years ago. I've been gathering information on him because I suspect he works for the man the White Lotus has been searching for."

"Who?" Hitomi never got an answer.

Shadow continued, "Despite my research, I was lacking evidence that Lang had the proper connections to infiltrate his property. But thanks to you, I learned that the materials being used to build those tanks you found in the Chief's possession were manufactured by Lang Industries. Now I have permission from the Grand Lotus to arrest Lang and search his property."

"So why do you need my help?"

"For one, I wanted to invite you on this mission as thanks for revealing Lang's true nature to the White Lotus," Hitomi glared at Shadow, and he understood she figured out that wasn't the main reason he brought her. He sighed and finished, "And I learned that there's an underground room where they make the illegal materials for weapons. The room can only be accessed by an earth bender who knows where the entrance is. I know where it is…"

Hitomi smirked, "But you're not an earth bender."

Shadow nodded and asked, "So, will you help me?"

"Of course!" Hitomi said with shock, "Did you think I wouldn't?"

Shadow chuckled under his bandana, learning that despite her first reaction to him, she was completely willing to help people out if it meant making the world a better place. That was a good quality for an Avatar.

Shadow pointed to a window that was slightly open and said, "That's where we'll enter from." He quickly tossed a small metal rod at the window and it perfectly landed in between the window and the wall, fitting the open gap perfectly! The center of the metal rod started flashing a red light and started beeping. The rod then began to extend, causing the window to slowly open up more until it was completely open!

Hitomi was astounded and asked, "You're a metal bender?"

Shadow replied, "No, I'm not a bender at all. I've been trained by stealth professionals and assassins to hit every single one of my marks perfectly. The metal grew because I placed a small technological device in it to grow when it hits its mark. My technological expertise enhanced stealth efficiency, which is how I became a master in my own field of stealth and earned a place among the White Lotus so that I can be certain my inventions are tools that bring peace, not destruction."

Hitomi tried to focus on Shadow's speech, but he started to get boring, so she didn't hear the whole thing. She just nodded as soon as he was done talking.

Shadow then magically popped out two throwing knives attached to string from under his sleeve and threw them both a few floors above the target window. He held both strings tightly in his hands, ready to swing over to the window. He told Hitomi to grab onto his back and they swung toward the open window. Shadow kicked his metal device holding the window open into the building and they both landed inside without making a sound.

While Shadow went to pick up his device, Hitomi took a quick glance at the building. It looked like any normal office building, or at least the ones she's seen in business pictures, with desks, chairs, giant stacks of paperwork, nothing different.

Shadow motioned for Hitomi to follow him as they raced down the stairs. He explained, "Now it's only been a day since you defeated the Chief so I'm afraid that Lang will suspect that you and the White Lotus will suddenly be coming after him, which we are. If I were Lang, I'd want to get out as quickly as possible to avoid capture; and during the Fire Days Festival, he should be able to disappear quickly and easily so we need to hurry up and catch him before he flees!"

"Disappear easily?" Hitomi asked, "How can he disappear easily with so many people around?"

"People during the Fire Days Festival can easily mistake a getaway or a big street brawl as a simple show for the festival. Even Avatar Aang managed to get away on his flying bison and burn down a festival structure without anyone being the wiser."

"Aang? He's been part of a Fire Days Festival getaway too?"

"Yeah, except the Avatar was the one trying to getaway; this time, the Avatar is trying to prevent the criminal from getting away!"

They finally made it down to the bottom floor, which was just an empty room that looked like it had been cleaned in certain parts, but not the others. There was no floor, just the earth beneath the building.

"Oh no," Shadow said in horror, "They've already cleaned out this room. This was their last room. Quickly Avatar, earth bend right here; they could be getting away right now!" Shadow stomped his foot down on a specific spot before backing up.

Hitomi quickly rotated her hands, causing a circle to be drawn around her and Shadow into the earth. She then stomped down and the circle started rapidly charging down through the earth. The earth suddenly collapsed from underneath them and they landed in a cave lit by overhead lights.

Hitomi and Shadow saw three sato-mobiles being packed by several people in suits and ties. They stopped what they were doing and stared at Hitomi and the Shadow, who were starting to get up from the fall. They quickly threw everything into the cars and got in. Shadow quickly threw some throwing stars at the sato-mobile in the middle and punctured its left tire. The other two cars managed to drive through a tunnel, which the earth benders closed.

Hitomi and Shadow raced up to the sato-mobile and the three thugs quickly got out, ready to bend whatever element they had at the two. Hitomi and Shadow stood ready to face them as well.

Hitomi said, looking at the three men, "So, I'll take the two on the right, and you take the-" When Hitomi looked to her left, Shadow had disappeared! She then heard one of the thugs whimper in pain and she looked back at the thugs to find that they were all unconscious! The wheel was also repaired and Shadow was in the driver seat calling to Hitomi, "Get in!"

Hitomi shook her amazement away for the moment and quickly jumped into the sato-mobile. She pushed out her two fists and lifted them up, causing the tunnel to reopen. Shadow stepped on the gas and they drove out of the underground room and into the streets of the town. They quickly saw one of the cars turn before they lost sight of them, and Shadow quickly pursued. No more than a few seconds passed until they were in sight of the sato-mobile. The thug in the driver's seat was preparing to throw a fireball at them.

Shadow said to Hitomi, while getting out a metal container from his belt, "Quickly, make a ramp!" He threw the metal cylinder at the bender just before he shot the fireball at him. The fire hit the cylinder and a large amount of glue exploded onto the entire car, causing them to swerve and quickly slow down to a stop! Hitomi quickly made a ramp by bending the earth in front of the car and they jumped over the glue trapped criminals and raced forward.

"Wow!" Hitomi exclaimed, "How'd you do that?"

"I invented a container that when hit with water, fire or lightning causes the glue inside it to explode it the bender's face, making their bending almost useless."

"How many other cool toys you got on your belt?"

"None, because I don't carry toys; I carry weapons."

As they started heading back toward the entrance, hoping to catch the other criminals before they escaped, the car suddenly appeared next to them and a water bender quickly shot water from his water bottle and used it to freeze the front and back left tires! The sato-mobile swerved out of control and they crashed into a parking lot while the criminals happily rode away.

Hitomi and Shadow quickly got out, Shadow saying, "Look for a car fast enough to catch up with those crooks. I can probably hot-wire any of these things."

Hitomi didn't need to try and find one. She saw a stable right across the parking lot where Ma Gui was being held. She told Shadow to hurry behind him and they made their way toward the stables. Hitomi petted Ma Gui and hopped on her back.

Shadow asked, "Are you sure this horse-turtle is fast enough?"

Hitomi assured him, "Ma Gui can outrun my thrill crazed best friend's motorcycle, so I'm sure she can catch up with three morons in a loaded down sato-mobile."

Shadow took her word for it and jumped on Ma Gui's back. Ma Gui raced out onto the street at a speed that Shadow was surprised a horse-turtle could have. Almost in no time, they managed to catch up with the sato-mobile that had driven out into the public eye instead of the abandoned streets like they had been. Just like Shadow said, the crowd cheered them on, thinking it was an act. Hitomi bended small rocks from the ground they were driving on at the car while Shadow quickly shot needles and throwing knives from out of his sleeves. The thug in the back seat knocked out Hitomi's rocks by bending his own and the thug in the passenger seat bended quick shots of water to knock out Shadow's throwing knives and needles.

Then, as the exit just came into sight, Hitomi saw Yuko and Gao standing in the middle of the road, ready to meet the sato-mobile that was charging at them. Gao quickly bended water from his water bottle to freeze both of the front tires, causing it to swerve. Yuko, with her knuckle bracers equipped, got into a firm, earth bender like position, and punched the front of the sato-mobile, denting the entire front of the car, shattering the glass, and shooting it up into the air and crashing back down on its wheels!

Everyone around them cheered for the "stuntmen" as they moaned their way out of the car and passed out on the ground. Hitomi and Shadow jumped off Ma Gui and Shadow quickly raced to the thugs in order to place platinum handcuffs that completely covered their hands so they couldn't bend, even if they were metal benders.

Hitomi went to meet with Yuko and Gao, Yuko asking, "What in the world happened back there Hitomi? And who's that weird ninja?"

"Hitomi?" asked Gao, "I thought you said your name was Midori. Wait," Gao got a better look at her face that wasn't covered by a mask, "aren't you-"

Yuko slapped Hitomi on the back and said, "Yep! She's Hitomi Mizutamari; the new and improved Avatar!"

Hitomi blushed, smiled and apologized to Gao for lying about her name to him. But then, Gao got this weird look on his face. It wasn't happy, or sad, or angry. It was pretty blank, but Hitomi could get a sense of disappointment from Gao. Was he disappointed that she was the Avatar?

Gao smiled and said, "It was very nice meeting you Avatar Hitomi, but I think it's about time I go. I'll be seeing you around." Then he left without another word.

Hitomi was a little upset about the goodbye, seeing how it didn't end like she had hoped. Yuko yelled after Gao, saying stuff like, "What? You think you're too cool for the Avatar?"

Shadow approached Hitomi and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your help Avatar; if it wasn't for you, those thugs could've made it out of here with the most important parts for their weapons. You've done the White Lotus and the world a great favor."

Hitomi, despite her depression, managed a smile and bowed back to Shadow.

Shadow looked toward Gao, who Yuko was still yelling at, and said, "I think the boy likes you, and I heard the sincerity in his words when he said that he would see you again."

Hitomi's eyes brightened, "Really?"

Shadow nodded and said, "People aren't always who they first appear to be, but I did sense a lot of grief when I quickly glanced at him as he walked away. Maybe when the two of you meet again, you'll both have a different perspective of the other. Anyway, it appears that Fu Lang managed to escape right from under me. I'll have to report these criminals to the authorities and see if I can extract any information out of them. Goodbye Avatar."

"Goodbye Shadow. I hope we'll meet again," Hitomi pointed a finger at him and warned, "But next time, don't knock me unconscious! Got it?"

Shadow chuckled under his bandana and nodded. He walked toward a dark alleyway where he eventually blended into the shadows and disappeared. Yuko returned to Hitomi after she was finished yelling at Gao and asked, "So who exactly was that guy?" Hitomi shrugged and said that as far as she knew, he was a Shadow.

The Fire Days Festival ended with thousands of rockets being launched into the air, completely filling the sky with beautiful red, orange and yellow colors; a sight that she's been waiting to see for years with Yuko and Ma Gui standing by her side. The two girls stared in awe as the Fire Days Festival came to an amazing and beautiful end.

I can't believe I finished this chapter in just an hour! Well anway, that's Chapter Seven and I hope you loved it! Please leave a review and stayed tuned until next time!


	9. Chapter 9

The White Lotus War

Chapter 8: No Answers, Just More Questions

Hitomi wasn't able to get to sleep. She didn't know if it was because of the car chase, because of her new crush on Gao, or because of how much she enjoyed the overall experience of the Fire Days Festival. Whatever the reason, she just laid there in her bed in the apartment she rented for the night. It was a two-person bedroom so Hitomi took up one bed while Yuko took up the other. The room was covered in Fire Nation style décor and furnishing, with red balloons and oddly shaped candles to celebrate the festival that just ended.

As Hitomi lied down on her back and stared at the slowly rotating fan, she thought about the things that had happened to her and some things that Shadow had said. She remembered him saying that the man behind, whatever was going on, was looked at as a purely White Lotus problem and they felt that the man behind this was their responsibility. But still, wasn't it the Avatar's responsibility to protect the world just like the White Lotus? Heck, it was more the Avatar's responsibility then theirs! I mean sure, the White Lotus play a huge role in world order and peace, and they're made up of great fighters like Shadow, but no matter how personal this problem was to them, the Avatar still had the right to know what was going on! Didn't she?

Hitomi was starting to get angry and she thrashed at her covers and pillows. All of this uncertainty was really starting to annoy her. All she wanted was for someone to fill her in! Was that really too much to ask? Hitomi didn't think so.

She started to worry that another war was going to start up. I mean, for what other purposes does someone build tanks for? She remembered the Chief and just how much he enjoyed being the cruel and evil demon that he was. She remembered becoming so enraged by him when he was willing to kill Yuko before the Avatar just to make her suffer the loss of a loved friend. She became so angry and desperate to stop him before he hurt Yuko that she went into the Avatar State. And then, nothing; that was the last thing she remembered about her battle with the Chief.

"Why?" Hitomi asked herself, "Why can't I remember anything?"

She remembered every single thing that happened the first time she went into the Avatar State, so why couldn't she remember what happened this time? It was like she had no control over the Avatar State. Hitomi heard that Aang had trouble controlling the Avatar State when he got really angry at something, but he was able to control it in the end and spare the Phoenix King's life. Why couldn't she go back in time and get Aang to teach her how to control it?

The wheels rapidly spun in her head. "Duh," Hitomi said to herself as she slammed her palm against her forehead, "I _am_ Aang; I'm just a different version of him, that's all. I can still contact him if I meditate."

Problem, she didn't know how to properly meditate. The majority of her knowledge about the Avatar came from historical records about their journeys. She didn't really know all that much about the actual spiritual techniques of the Avatar or their journeys into the Spirit World; Hitomi never really got into the spiritual journey sides of the past Avatars.

"Still," Hitomi said to herself as she sat in her bed in a meditating position, "I'm made up of the past Avatars, so maybe something'll come to me if I sit here and at least attempt to meditate."

She closed her eyes, trying to block out every single sight, sound, feeling, or thought from her mind. She just breathed and concentrated on finding her way to the Spirit World. She didn't know what could've awaited her there, but she was determined to try and find a way to control the Avatar State.

Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…

When Hitomi opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of a vast desert! Underneath her was a tiled circle, made of something that didn't seem like any other material. Was this the Spirit World? Every time Hitomi read about an Avatar crossing over into the Spirit World, it was always described as an overwhelming forest of spirits. Was she somewhere else? It seemed unlikely, but the question didn't leave her head.

But she remembered this place from her dream. This was the place she saw all the past Avatars and Korra asked her to remember them. But, she remembered a path in her dream, not just this small tile circle. Still, that seemed inconvenient right now.

She stood up and called out, "Aang? Korra? Roku? Are there any Avatars I can talk to for a moment?"

She stepped off the tile and onto the sand. Immediately, a bolt of red electricity shot up from the sand and shocked her back onto the tile! What was that?

"Are you okay Hitomi?" asked a voice from behind her. Hitomi stood up and saw that it was Korra, still wearing her water tribe armor from before.

"Korra," Hitomi said without trying to hide any of the relief in her voice, "I am so glad to see you." She looked around at the desert and asked, "Is this the Spirit World?"

Korra shook her head and said, "The Spirit World is a place of its own where my spirit, as well as the spirits of other past Avatars, dwells with other spirits. A mortal can only enter the Spirit World during the solstices or at a location where the connection between the Spirit World and your world isn't as strong."

"So if we're not in the Spirit World, where are we?"

Korra looked around and, to Hitomi's surprise and discomfort, said, "I'm not sure. It appears to be a spiritual domain, but it's small and has no connection to the Spirit World or your world. It seems that the only connection this place has is to you and only you have access to this place. It also seems to drain you slightly from your other spiritual connections. This domain is strange to me and the other Avatars."

"Well, that's uplifting," Hitomi sarcastically said with a genuine look of fear in her eyes. She continued, "Anyway, I came to ask you if you could show me how to control the Avatar State."

Korra smirked and asked, "You think you can "just control it"? The Avatar State takes years of patience and concentration in order to be mastered. You can't just learn how to control it the same way you can learn how to ride a bicycle. It took me years to just connect with my spiritual side. You don't want to know how long it took me to master the Avatar State; I was almost this age when I finally had it down."

"I just want to make sure I don't hurt anyone." Hitomi pleaded.

"I'm sorry, but learning how to control the Avatar State is a task that you must complete by your own efforts. Aang did it on his own, I did it on my own, and you'll do it on your own. I'll assist you whenever I can, but mastering the Avatar State has to be done solely by you."

This wasn't the response Hitomi wanted when she entered the Spirit World, or whatever non-Spirit World Korra said this was suppose to be, but she took what she could get and just accepted it. She was now actually more concerned about this domain. It seemed that Korra was very disturbed by the very existence of this place and that was very unnerving for Hitomi.

"I have another question," Hitomi began, "Why is it that I can't remember what happened the last time I entered the Avatar State? I remember what happened the first time I went into the Avatar State, so why don't I remember?"

Korra answered, "I'm not sure, but I believe this domain is somehow the cause of it. Try stepping out onto the sand again."

"No way!" Hitomi exclaimed jumping back a little; she may not have remembered what happened during her last trip into the Avatar State, but she knew perfectly well what happened last time she put her foot in the sand!

"It may sound crazy, but I believe that when the negative energy is released by your spiritual entity, this domain starts to become smaller and your connection to your spiritual side becomes stronger. By walking your entity across the sand, another barrier may be released from around this domain."

"But it'll shock me!" Hitomi knew that excuse wouldn't dare stick with Korra. Hitomi eventually gave into one of Korra's glares and she slowly made her way toward the sand. She looked at the sand with fear, unsure of whether or not Korra's suggestion would actually help. Still, she quickly jumped out onto the sand. Red lightning shot up from the ground and instantly started shocking Hitomi, causing her to scream in agonizing pain! Despite her pain, she slowly walked through the sand, each step hurting more than the last. She was sure she was going to die if she kept it up.

Then Hitomi sank into the sand and landed on a metal floor! She looked up and saw two guards holding down a man wearing Earth Kingdom garments as he struggled to get out of the seat they were holding him down in! What was this place?

"Oh, hello Hitomi." a chipper said from behind her; a voice you would hear from an old friend.

Hitomi looked behind her and saw a tall man with very short blond hair and golden eyes look down on her with such delight and yet so much fear-striking authority. He was wearing a white jacket like a scientist would wear and he was holding a container with a needle. He smiled a nice yet horrifying smile at Hitomi that just made her skin crawl with fear.

"I see you're making progress on your Deletion," the man said with a brighter and yet even more terrifying smile, "Good for you!"

"Who are you talking to you maniac?" yelled the man being held down against his will, "Are you going even more insane you monster?"

"Please ignore him Hitomi," the man said ignoring the captive, "He's just a little project I have going on. It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Are you talking to an imaginary friend?" yelled the captive, "Well imaginary friend, please tell this lunatic to let me go! I'm not going to end up like your other "pets"! I won't let you turn me into one of those creatures!"

Hitomi was rendered speechless by the entire scenario she was just placed into. A strange man who was the physical form of terror was having two men hold down a captive while he just casually had a conversation with her! And it seemed like he was the only one who could see her!

As if he read her mind, he said, "You must be wondering why I'm the only person who can see you. Well, I won't spoil that surprise for you just yet. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an experiment to continue. You may stay and observe if you wish."

He then proceeded to pass through Hitomi like a ghost! Hitomi watched as the man injected something into the captive's arm that made him shriek in pain! Hitomi yelled at him to stop and punched and kicked at him, but it was like fighting a ghost!

The man sighed and said to Hitomi, "You're beginning to bug me. I promise we'll have our confrontation in the real world, but for now, just go back to your world."

That was the last thing Hitomi heard before she found herself back in her room.

One minute passed, two minutes passed, ten minutes passed, thirty minutes passed…

She just sat there in her meditative stance, frozen in fear and confusion, for almost an hour before exhaustion got the better of her and she lied down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up the next morning lying on her belly, she was still thinking about the weird things that happened to her after she meditated. In fact, she was wondering if it was all a dream. No, Hitomi admitted to herself, the pain and fear was far too real.

She got up and turned around to find several men pointing their fingers at Hitomi, showing that they were fire benders who knew how to summon lightning! Hitomi was stunned in place when she saw an unconscious Yuko being held by a young man she had met before.

"I'm terribly sorry Avatar Hitomi," Gao said to her, "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to sleep a while longer."

One of the men to the side of Hitomi struck her on the back of her head, sending her into unconsciousness.

Yes! Chapter 8! Done! Thank you for reading and I hope you love the story so far! Please leave me a review so I know how you feel about my story! Until next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

The White Lotus War

Chapter 10: Imprisoned By Water

Hitomi woke up with her head throbbing from pain. She found herself in a luxurious bedroom and tucked neatly into her surprisingly comfortable bed. When she got up and looked outside the window however, she found that she was on the surface of water! She must have been taken onto a ship after Gao knocked her unconscious! She roared in frustration; she couldn't believe that Gao, the young man that made her act like a complete love struck moron, ambushed her and placed her on a boat, far away from her element!

As the metal door to her room made a "clicking" sound and squeaked opened, she quickly turned around to find an elegantly Fire Nation style dressed man holding a clipboard.

He said, "Captain Gao wishes to invite you and your friend for lunch on the main deck."

Hitomi growled at the man and said, "You tell Gao that the next time I see his face, I'm going to tear out and shred it to pieces!"

The man flinched in fear, seeing that she was not in the mood to be bothered. He stuttered in fear as he said, "B-But the c-captain will n-not allow you t-to leave your room otherwise."

"I don't care!" Hitomi roared. Her roar scared the man into closing the door and running away. Hitomi paced around the room angrily, trying to figure out a way to find Yuko and get off the ship. First, how was she going to get out of her room?

Then she realized, she didn't hear a "click" when he shut the door! That must've meant that he left the door unlocked. She checked, and sure enough, the door creaked open. Hitomi congratulated herself on scaring the guy so much that he forgot to lock the door.

She slowly raced down the steel hallways, trying to find either Yuko or some dirt or coal that she could use to bend with. The halls and rooms were clean of any dirt or earth; Gao must've taken extra precautions before ambushing her. She opened several doors until she accidentally opened the one door that leads her out onto the main deck. On the main deck was a picnic with lots of sandwiches, side dishes, vegetables, and even different types of bread. On the main deck were a bunch of guards, Yuko in handcuffs, and Gao, who was now dressed in a handsome black uniform.

Gao was drinking a glass of some white liquid when Hitomi came through the door. He placed the drink down and said, "Avatar Hitomi, it was nice of you to reconsider my offer. Would you please have a seat?"

Hitomi looked around her. There were way too many guards to fight off. The majority of them looked like fire benders. They were wearing black uniforms similar to Gao's, but she could tell they were fire benders by looking at their golden eyes. Other than Gao, she couldn't tell if there were any water benders surrounding her. Still, without any earth to bend, she wasn't exactly given the choice to fight. She unwillingly forced herself to walk over to the picnic and sit down next to Yuko.

"Did you actually say yes when the guy asked you to attend the picnic?" Hitomi asked Yuko angrily.

Yuko shrugged and answered, "Sorry, I missed breakfast. I got hungry."

A guard was about to place handcuffs on Hitomi, but Gao said, "Please, no handcuffs for the Avatar. She may be our enemy, but she is also an honored guest on my ship. Besides, she is far away from any earth."

"A guest?" Hitomi asked with frustration.

"Despite our current positions, you're still the Avatar. Though we may be approaching different goals in terms of order in the world, I see no reason why I should treat you or your friend like prisoners on my vessel."

Yuko smartly remarked in anger, "Oh what a gentleman! I'm completely flattered! Well if you're such a gentleman, how about taking these handcuffs off of me?"

Gao answered, "I'm no idiot. I witnessed your incredible strength when you kept that getaway car from hitting us."

A question popped into Hitomi's head, "Wait a second; you said you're my enemy right?" Gao nodded and she continued, "Then wouldn't that mean you worked with some guys called the Chief and Fu Lang?"

"I am familiar with Fu Lang and the Chief, yes."

"Then why did you stop Lang's thugs from fleeing the city?"

"Yeah," Yuko added, "You must've known that Fu Lang heard about how Hitomi completely thrashed the Chief and took down his tank operation! He would've wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible!"

"I didn't know about the Chief's defeat or Lang's retreat!" Gao said with shock. He turned to the jumpy Fire Nation guy with the clip board and asked, "Why wasn't I told about this?"

"Please don't look at me sir!" he said fearfully, even though Gao didn't use a scary voice or face when he asked the question, "The Boss has his advisors send me hawks telling of the events that happen within our operation! I didn't receive any news involving the Chief or Mr. Lang!"

That brought up another question to Hitomi, "Who is this Boss? Who are you working for?"

"I can't tell you his name," Gao informed her, "All I can tell you is that he's powerful and he's been preparing to take down the White Lotus for as long as anyone can remember."

Hitomi started to take in what he just said. The man he was working for wanted to destroy the White Lotus? Can anyone even do that? No, the White Lotus was too powerful. They were made up of the greatest masters of their generations.

Hitomi laughed and claimed, "No one can take down the White Lotus. They've been helping the Avatar and the world for centuries!"

Gao looked like he was about to say something, but then a guard came up to him and said, "Captain, our navigators would like to inform you about the possibility of changing our course due to weather conditions up ahead."

Gao nodded and stood up, saying, "Guards, please take Yuko back to her cell. As for you Avatar Hitomi, I would like to personally keep an eye on you." On that note, the guards escorted Yuko back into the ship while Hitomi followed Gao into a door that sent them in a hallway going up toward the navigation room.

They walked down the hallway for a short amount of time until Gao suddenly stopped. Without turning around, he said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Hitomi asked with anger and anticipation, knowing that there was nothing he could possibly say to make her forgive him.

Before Gao answered, Hitomi quickly looked down and saw that a keychain with lots of keys was hanging loosely on his belt. While he spoke, Hitomi slowly tried to reach for the keys without him noticing.

"It's not my style to use trickery or backstab tactics. I'm sorry for acting like your friend that night, only to ambush you the following morning. But when I didn't know you were the Avatar, that truly was the real me. I just want you to know that."

"That doesn't change a thing!" Hitomi yelled, "Why are you talking to me like you're my friend? You're not! You kidnapped me and my best friend and you're holding us hostage until we're sent to your Boss! If you really meant anything about what you just said about being respectful towards the Avatar, you'd let us go!"

"I can't let you leave. I do honor you, but I gave an oath to my father that I-" Gao stopped talking, but it was too late. Hitomi had heard him say the key word that she could possibly use later against him.

They returned to walking and didn't say another word until they entered the navigation room. Gao told Hitomi to stay by the wall and he proceeded to talk to a group of people in black uniforms. Meanwhile, she happily and silently played with the keychain in her pocket.

Hitomi listened carefully as they spoke.

A guy next to Gao said, "So the storm that's just two hours ahead will hit us lightly during the first five minutes, but it could rapidly escalate. I propose we proceed on course for three minutes and take this route away from the storm."

Another guy protested, "That might reduce our delay, but there's still a big chance that the storm could catch up. I say we just go the long way and avoid the whole thing."

The guy from before said, "That would take another full day of travel!"

The guy driving the boat said, "I think you're all being babies! This ship can handle any storm that comes our way! I say we drive through!"

Gao said, "We can't risk the storm with the Avatar on board; we can't let her become injured."

"Why not?" asked the guy driving.

Gao glared, "We're not charging at the storm. That's final."

"So what do you suppose we do? Should we go the long way or brave the three minutes and go around this island?"

"We're charging through and that's that!"

"The Captain said no! We're taking the long way!"

"Are you mad? The Boss would be furious with the delay!"

Hitomi stood back and watched them all go at each other. She liked the idea about going by an island during a storm. There could be an opportunity for her to escape. She could break out Yuko and they could make a quick break for the island on a lifeboat. She knew she could make the escape, but she had to make sure they voted on the three minutes storm route. But by the sound of the conversation, they were going to go with the long way. She had to find a way to keep them fighting.

While she played with the keys in her pocket, she felt a small ball there as well. The fire chocolate! It could shoot a small ball of fire from the eater's mouth for an instant! She quickly popped the chocolate in her mouth and began to suck on it. It tasted sweet, but it wasn't shrinking fast enough. She kept on at it, making it shrink, and shrink, and shrink. Finally, she got it to the size that she could swallow. Just like when it happened to Yuko, Hitomi's eyes watered and her throat became volcanic. She quickly spat out a fireball at one of the voters for the three minute delay. His hair quickly ignited and he quickly ran out of the room screaming in pain!

"That was a cruel trick!" one of the other voters for the three minute delay said pointing to the guy next to him, "I was about to side with you too!"

"What are you talking about? I didn't shoot fire at him!"

A little bit more yelling occurred and then everybody in the room started fire bending at each other. Fire was everywhere until Gao bended some water from his water bottle and used the water as a whip to keep everyone in line.

Gao ordered, "That's enough out of you! I will not allow such childish behavior on my ship! We will take the three minute route around the island and that will be it! Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" everyone saluted.

Gao turned to Hitomi, who tried to hide her pain from swallowing the fire chocolate, and said, "I'll escort you to your room."

"I want to see Yuko." Hitomi protested.

Gao was silent, but he nodded in agreement and lead her down to a cell not too far from her room. She could hear Yuko punching the steel door. Gao stood off far away to the side, respecting the privacy of the conversation, but not allowing Hitomi out of his sight so she could try and break Yuko free from her room. Hitomi smirked when he noticed his gentleman-like behavior, knowing it would come back to bite him.

Hitomi called through the door, "Yuko, its Hitomi. Are you all right?"

Yuko smartly remarked, "As far as being a prisoner goes, I'm doing swell."

Hitomi knew Gao was far enough away so he couldn't hear, but she lowered her voice a little just to be safe, "In two hours, we're getting out of here. Get ready."

All right, it's done! I kind of charged through this one, but I'm pretty cool with how I made it! Please leave a review if you agree or disagree! I hope you love the story so far and I have many more surprises in store for you!


	11. Chapter 11

The White Lotus War

Chapter 11: Storming Out

As the last ten minutes or so to the escape began to slowly go by, Hitomi was punching and kicking the air, ready to go up against Gao and his fire benders even though she doesn't have any earth to bend. She knew that Yuko would be just fine, even without her knuckle bracers, which she supposes Gao has stored somewhere. She knew she'd have to listen to Yuko complain a little bit about not going back for her bracers once they left, but Hitomi was sure that she'd get over it. She knew that if they could, they should try to get out without making a sound, though she also knew that this probably wouldn't happen since Gao knew that she and Yuko were powerful opponents.

She started thinking about Gao and what he said back in the hallway over an hour ago. Did he really mean it when he said that he really did enjoy spending time with her? Though she didn't want to admit it, she was hoping that Gao would have a sudden change of heart and that he would let both her and Yuko go, proving that he really was the nice guy she met at the Fire Days Festival.

She shook that thought angrily out of her head and reminded herself that Gao was the man holding her hostage on his ship taking her to his Boss where she'll be imprisoned or perhaps even killed. Gao was not the gentleman she thought he was and was ready to squash him like the bug he was.

Lightning struck from outside her window and she looked out. The storm was finally over their heads. The time for the escape was now. She knew she'd have to deal with the guards on deck who were bracing the ship, but that would just have to be a chance she had to take.

She got out the keychain and unlocked her door, racing down the, thankfully, empty hallway. She came upon Yuko's room and unlocked the door. When she opened it, Yuko's fist flew at her and she was punched into the wall behind her, leaving a dent in the metal wall!

"Whoops!" Yuko apologized, realizing it wasn't a guard, "Sorry Hitomi."

"It's fine," Hitomi said getting up and rubbing her bruised chin, "We need to get moving. I heard that there's an island that the ship is going by; we'll take a life boat and escape there."

Yuko nodded and they both headed toward the deck. Hitomi and Yuko stopped in front of the steel door, hearing the voices of many guards yelling at each other while the storm was going on.

"You ready?" Hitomi asked.

Yuko chuckled and asked back, "The bender without her element is asking the champion fighter if she's ready to fight?"

Hitomi laughed, still grateful that Yuko is keeping her personality through this whole thing, and they both prepared to fight off the guards in order to make it to the life boats. Almost on cue, before they went through, the door opened and the Fire Nation guy, now without his clipboard and soaking wet, came in and stared in fright at the two girls.

Before he could scream, Yuko covered his mouth and asked with a frightening glare, "You're not going to be that annoying little brother who tattles on his sisters, are you? Because just so you know, that would really make me mad." Just like the last guy she threatened, he passed out in her clutches.

Also like last time, she just threw the guy on the ground and said to Hitomi, "Let's make this quick."

Hitomi nodded and they both ran out onto the deck in the middle of the storm. The rain wasn't coming down hard, but it was everywhere and every guard was in a strategic position in case the storm got worse. Of course, they abandoned these positions when they saw the two girls running for an open speed boat and tried to fire bend at them. Luckily, since the clouds were above them and it was raining, their fire bending wasn't as powerful at the time, in fact it was almost downright pathetic. Hitomi and Yuko easily dodged the puny fireballs and whenever they tried hand-to-hand combat with the two, they easily swatted them around, Yuko even chucking a few of them off the side of the boat! They ran toward the open speed boat and quickly deployed it. They landed in the water with a splash and they rode out into the stormy night.

Yuko looked back and said, "They're persistent, I'll give them that." Four other speed boats were seen charging at them. Fire benders shot fireballs at the girls, but they were either so weak they disappeared before getting near them, or they just missed due to their limited visibility. Eventually, they all stopped and began to head back toward the ship.

Yuko cheered and said, "This grand escape ought to teach those punks that no one can imprison this Team Avatar!"

After what seemed like hours of driving the boat out onto the sea, Hitomi couldn't help but feel that they went off course when aiming toward the island. Hitomi didn't want to say it to Yuko, but she thought she was leading them to their doom; to freeze or starve in the middle of the ocean. She wanted to apologize to Yuko for getting them into this mess, but she was so cold from the rain that she couldn't move, let alone speak. Yuko was obviously starting to feel cold and numb as well. Eventually, Yuko let her hands off the wheel and she passed out.

"No," Hitomi said through chattering teeth, "This can't be where it all ends."

"I don't want us to die here."

"I won't let us die here!"

Hitomi felt herself about to go into the Avatar State, but she somehow managed to force it down and said to herself, "No! You could hurt Yuko if you-!"

She didn't have enough control to prevent herself from going into the Avatar State. Her eyes shined brightly through the rain and reflected off the raindrops and ocean. She smashed her fists together, creating a cyclone of air to revolve around them. The boat was lifted up into the air and began going straight forward!

Hitomi appeared to be unknowingly moving the boat toward a specific destination. Thankfully, an island was just up ahead and Hitomi gently placed the boat down on the wet sand of the beach. Hitomi was about to float back to the ground, when red lightning began to go through every part of her body, causing her to shriek in pain! Her eyes glowed red and the electricity was just unbearable to her! The red word, "DELETE" reappeared on her right arm!

Suddenly, the electricity stopped and Hitomi slowly came out of the Avatar State. She landed in the sand and went into unconsciousness.

_"Hitomi, you've broken another barrier already? You're quite the fast worker if I do say so myself! Huh? I feel another spiritual presence nearby you. Camero? I thought I abandoned her on that island. Are you on the island too, Hitomi?"_

Chaper Eleven is a bit short and fast, but that's because I really wanted to get to this island! You'll see why if you keep reading! Don't worry, the next chapter is going to be longer and much more awesome! I hope you love the story so far and please leave a review telling me your thoughts on the story! Later!


	12. Chapter 12

The White Lotus War

Chapter 12: The Monster

Hitomi's face was splashed with water and she immediately woke up. At first, she was almost expecting Shadow to be standing above her. Instead, it was Yuko who smiled at the sight of her friend's eyes being opened. Hitomi smiled as well and Yuko helped her up from the sand.

"Are you okay?" Yuko asked.

"I'm fine," Hitomi replied, "You?"

Yuko nodded and said, "Just a little dizzy for some reason, but yeah, I'm good."

While brushing off the sand from her jeans and jacket, Hitomi looked at her surroundings. She was so happy that they actually made it to the island safely. The sand was a little wet, the trees were cutting off the beach from the forest, and she couldn't see Gao's ship or anything else from across the ocean. The speed boat was a little bit damaged, but it looked like it could still run and take them across the water no problem.

"So," Yuko said, leaning against the beached speed boat, "It looks like this thing still works, so which way do we go? I can't see any land out there; Earth Kingdom or otherwise."

Hitomi thought about this problem and suggested, "We could wait until night and see if the stars can lead us in the right direction."

"Can you read stars?" Yuko asked surprised. Her amazement was lost instantly when she saw Hitomi sadly shake her head "no". She just came up with the idea and wasn't even sure if the stars could help in their dilemma.

Yuko's stomach began growling. Yuko chuckled uncomfortably and said, "Well, maybe we can think of a better idea once we eat something." Saying that, she walked over to the forest to find berries or something else she could snack on. Hitomi just waited by the boat, thinking of another way to find their way back to the Earth Kingdom. She also tried to remember what happened last night. She remembered the storm, Yuko passing out, and going into the Avatar State, but nothing else after that.

"Great," Hitomi complained, "This is just like what happened with the Chief!"

"Hitomi!" Yuko called from inside the forest, "Check this out!"

Hitomi slowly made her way through the forest, passing along some interesting sights. She saw that some of the trees were scratched or broken in some way; one of the trees actually had a dagger sticking out of its trunk! She finally found Yuko, looking straight toward a bunch of gravestones with flowers on them! Hitomi was freaked out by the existence of the graves. Was there some sort of battle here? That would be an explanation for the look of their surroundings, but if that was the case, then there was one problem…

"Who was left to bury the bodies?" Hitomi asked silently to herself.

Thanks to Hitomi's sharp hearing, she managed to push Yuko out of the way before they were hit by a flying rock!

"Who goes there?" called out an old man's voice from a distance.

Yuko took a fighting stance, but Hitomi held her back and answered, "I'm Avatar Hitomi, my friend and I came to this island to escape some of our enemies."

"Ha!" the old man laughed, still not revealing himself, "No one has ever set foot on this island for over thirty years! You must be some more of that monster's hallucinations! Well sorry, but I'm not letting her out of that rock!"

"Monsters? Us?" Yuko angrily asked, "Look geezer, we're not your imaginary friends! We just need some food and directions to get off this island!"

There was silence for a little while, but then an old man with a very long white beard slowly slithered his way out from behind some of the trees. His Earth Kingdom style clothes were ripped, showing his boney skin from lack of nutrition. This man was not in good shape and it looks like he's been stuck on the island for years; probably thirty from his earlier comment. Hitomi almost gasped at seeing the poor old man.

"You can talk? You're not hallucinations?" he asked, in a much softer and pleasant voice. The girls shook their heads and the old man continued, "Then please come to my house. I'll make you something to eat."

The girls followed the old man through the forest until they stumbled upon a nice little cottage that looked like it had been bended from the earth. The old man must've been an earth bender, Hitomi noted. He lead them inside and the old man continually searched outside for something until he was sure that nothing was there and closed the door behind him. The inside of the house was just the stone walls, a stone ceiling and a dirt floor. There was a small bed made out of leaves and a few rocks that they used for chairs. The old man crushed a few unknown berries and leaves in a few stone bowls he bended, proving that he was an earth bender, and served them to the girls. The bowls were filled with an odd smelling and strange looking goop made out of the berries and leaves. Hitomi could barely eat any of hers, but Yuko and the old man both swallowed their unknown origin of food with no delay.

Hitomi decided to get the necessary questions out of the way, "Excuse me sir, but who are you?"

The old man wiped his face with his sleeve and answered, "My name is Lieutenant Yao of the United Republic of Nations; at least, I use to be a lieutenant until my crew and I were caught in a nasty storm and ended up here. Everyone aboard survived, but our ship was completely wrecked beyond repair. We lived on the beach for a day or two, waiting patiently for someone to come rescue us, until one of our men asked if it was okay to search the forest for supplies and such. He came back saying that there were berries inside the forest, so everyone, except for a few men who wanted to keeping watching for a passing boat, moved here and made these small cottages so we could survive off berries and other plants. We lived peacefully here and on the beach, patiently waiting in this little "paradise" until a boat came along to save us. That was before we found that monster."

"Monster?" Hitomi asked.

Yao sadly nodded and continued, "The same soldier that suggested searching the forest wanted to search deeper into the forest to see if even more pleasures could be found. When he came back, we couldn't believe our ears. He said that a bald woman in Water Tribe clothing was chained to a giant boulder!" Hitomi and Yuko looked at him in disbelief and he said, "That's the same look of disbelief we gave him! Though we didn't believe him, we followed him to see for ourselves. To our shock and amazement, we found the bald woman in Water Tribe clothing chained to a giant boulder, just as the soldier said. She was passed out on the ground, so we tried waking her up while freeing her from the chains. When the chains were finally released, she woke up and started attacking us! She was a very skilled water bender from the way she absorbed water from the plants around us and just pierced ice through our skin, killing a third of us in a matter of seconds! She was a monster, thus, the name we gave her. The rest of us fought her off, but we fought her off toward our camp by mistake. So we had to take a chance and charge deeper into the forest. We came upon a bit of luck when we came across a tar pit. When the monster came looking for us, we quickly knocked her into the tar pit."

While Yuko continued giving her look of disbelief, Hitomi could hear the honesty and fear in Yao's voice. She asked, "So you killed her?"

"We thought we did. That woman was much stronger than we thought. She actually survived the tar pit and climbed out with little difficulty! She was much easier to fight with the tar slowly her down, but she still managed to take everyone down! Everyone, except me; I was left alone to fight her off. But the spirits granted me luck that day and the tar on the monster's body hardened and froze her in place. To this day, the monster remains frozen by that tar pit, still haunting me. I thought you two might've been a sign that she was free."

"How?" Hitomi asked, becoming more and more intrigued by his story.

"This woman was no ordinary water bender; she could turn water into realistic looking people! She used such trickery to fool some of us into letting down our defenses. But her hallucinations can't talk. We made sure that before one of us did something, that person would tell everyone what he's doing so we knew that he wasn't a hallucination."

"So you thought we were hallucinations created by this monster?" Hitomi asked. Yao nodded.

"Okay," Yuko said, tired of his story, "Let's say I bought everything you said just now; how could she make hallucinations if she can't move?"

"I'm sorry," Yao said, "I've been alone on this island for thirty years and I know I don't have the same level of sanity as I did years ago; I apologize. But the story I told you is real; I remember the pain and sorrow of those battles with the monster each and every single night! I can't escape them, no matter how hard I try!"

"Right," Yuko said sarcastically and then said to Hitomi, "Can we go outside for a little bit?"

The two girls went outside and Yuko said, "Okay, so what do we do about Mr. Insanity? Should we just leave him here in his little house or should we try to put some logic back into his brain or whatever's left in his skull? I personally suggest that we get out of here."

"I believe him," Hitomi said, "I could feel how much pain he went through just by looking at him. His face was full of torture while he was remembering everything that happened to him. Besides, how else do you explain all the bodies?" Yuko looked like she was about to say something, but Hitomi warned, "If you're going to accuse the guy of murder, keep the idea to yourself." Yuko then shut her mouth and Hitomi continued, "What I think we should do this take our boat and try to get us all out of here and back to the Earth Kingdom so we can get to Tyro Town and this guy can get some much needed treatment."

Yuko coughed, "Mental treatment." Hitomi then bonked her on the head.

Yao came outside and asked, "The two of you have a boat?" The girls nodded and the old man cheered and said, "I know where to go! Follow me!"

The girls followed him into the forest where they passed a few more graves, some broken trees, and a giant boulder with a chain around it.

"Is that the chain in your story?" Hitomi asked.

Yao nodded and Yuko said to Hitomi, "He probably just put it there; the guy has more than enough time on his hands."

They proceeded past a tar pit where both the girls stopped at the amazement of a state made out of hardened tar. It was a bald figure holding out its hands like a water bender!

Yao approached the girls and asked Yuko, "Still doubting my story?"

Yuko slapped herself out of her amazement and said, "You probably just bended it so people would believe your story once you were rescued."

Hitomi and Yao were growing annoyed of Yuko's doubt, but they pushed it aside and continued their journey through the forest until they came to a beach. Yao pointed across the sea to a bit of land in the distance!

"It's the Earth Kingdom!" Hitomi cheered, "We're saved!"

They went back to the house, celebrating the fact that they were all finally going to be saved and brought back home. The celebration ended when Hitomi brought up an obvious question, "So how do we carry the boat from this side of the beach to the other side?"

Yao immediately answered, "I'm also a sand bender! I can sand bend the boat from the beach to the forest and we can earth bend it from the forest to the beach!"

"But how do we keep it from hitting the trees and possibly damaging it? It's already pretty beaten up from the storm."

"We'll just tear down the trees!" Yuko said with a big grin, "The trees are already pretty damaged by "the monster" so we'll just yank them out of the ground!"

The girls and Yao immediately went to work on this plan. Hitomi and Yao began using their earth bending to shoot the trees out of the ground like missiles that landed in the ocean or far to their right or left. Though Yao was old and not in the best of shape, he was still a strong bender, like any great earth bender would be. Yuko took the broken trees and just yanked them out from the earth with her bare hands and threw them to the side!

By nightfall, there was a clear path from the beach with the speed boat to the beach with the sight of freedom. They all decided to save the big day for tomorrow and Yao made beds for the girls using some big leaves just like the ones he used for his own bed.

Yuko went straight to sleep, but Hitomi and Yao stayed up a little bit to talk. Hitomi asked, "Is something wrong Yao?"

Yao answered, "I'm not sure if I can go back to the Earth Kingdom; I haven't been among civilized people in years. Perhaps I should stay here and watch over my fallen comrades."

"But then who would look after you? Please don't reconsider coming back with us; you belong in the Earth Kingdom and you deserve to live your last years in peace."

"Are you sure I can go back, even with everything that's happened to me?"

"I know you can. Besides, your fallen soldiers would want you to be strong and carry on. You'd want them to do the same thing, wouldn't you?"

Yao nodded and said, "Thank you Avatar Hitomi; whatever events will come to pass during your time, I know you'll become a great Avatar."

Hitomi thanked him and they both went to sleep.

[Yuko]

After having a dream about a giant bald woman drowning her with a tidal wave, Yuko woke up to find Hitomi and Yao still fast asleep during the night. Yuko yawned and was about to go back to sleep, until Hitomi's eyes shot open and she started to get up.

Yuko yawned, "Where are going Hitomi?" Hitomi just left the house without answering her. Yuko, angry about her just wandering off, decided to run after.

She caught up to Hitomi and said, "Hey Hitomi, where are you going? It's pretty late." Hitomi just kept walking, as if she didn't even know she was there. Yuko got really made at this and said, "Hey, what're you ignoring me for? If this is about me not believing that crazy story, then you-"

Yuko touched Hitomi's shoulder, and then red electricity ran across Hitomi's body and electrocuted Yuko! Yuko fell to the ground after shrieking in pain and Hitomi continued to walk on as if nothing had happened!

Yuko got up, completely amazed by what just happened, and raced to find her friend. She finally found her by the tar pit, and was walking toward the statue of the "monster"! Yuko raced up to her and asked, "Hitomi, what's wrong with you?"

She stood in front of Hitomi to get a good look at her face. She was stunned; Hitomi's eyes were locked in place, not moving a single centimeter! Her face was completely drained of emotion and she just kept looking ahead, toward the statue!

Yuko ran in front of her and stood her ground. She yelled, "Hitomi! Stop!"

Hitomi did stop, but she lifted up her hand and red electricity shot out of her fingertips and she started electrocuting Yuko again! Yuko screamed in pain as she was levitated and thrown out the way by Hitomi! Yuko was thrown against a tree and she fell to the ground in agonizing pain!

Hitomi stood in front of the tar statue of the "monster" and she placed her hand on the statue's chest. Red electricity shot out of her hand and the rock began to slowly chip away!

By the time Yuko stood back up, she saw Hitomi passed out on the ground and a bald woman with ripped, blood stained, Water Tribe clothing standing over her.

Chapter Twelve is done and we've got an awesome fight ahead of us! I hope you love the story so far and please leave a review telling me your thoughts on the story! Tune in next time when Yuko faces off against the monster that killed dozens of earth bending soldiers single handedly!


	13. Chapter 13

The White Lotus War

Chapter 13: Advice From A Doctor

Gao jumped out of his speedboat and onto the sand with his men riding their speedboats toward the island just a little ways behind him. Gao inspected the forest and estimated it to go several miles; not as big as other islands in the area, but definitely not small. He was actually interested in why no one ever bothered to claim this piece of land. Perhaps it was because of the vast forest area and it would just take a lot of profit in order to cut it all down.

Still, that wasn't the main issue. Avatar Hitomi was somewhere on the island and he promised the Boss that he would have her delivered to him by the following day. Of course, now he was far off schedule and he would be lucky to bring the Avatar to him at all.

When the other speedboats arrived on the shore, Gao commanded, "Search the entire island and do not rest until Avatar Hitomi is once again in our custody."

The large squad of fire benders bended small balls of fire in their hands to shine through the darkness of the extremely late night, and proceeded through the forest with Gao's lead.

His advisor, Batar, approached him with his clipboard in hand and said, "Sir, the forest is too great for a squadron of this size to affectively seek out the Avatar, especially in the dead of night."

Gao glared and him and angrily said, "Well then, you must have a more efficient way of finding the Avatar. I would be thrilled to hear it."

Batar gulped and replied, "No sir, it was just a comment, a stupid comment!"

Gao warned, "Keep your comments to yourself. We have to find her before the Boss becomes too impatient. I don't care if we have to search every centimeter of this island; our task is to bring him the Avatar as soon as possible."

"But sir, where do you intend to begin looking? It could take a few days to search the entire island, so where should we start?"

Almost in answer, they heard the sound of a tree being knocked over. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and from about a mile away, they heard and saw several more trees being knocked down rather quickly and in a path. Gao turned to his advisor and pointed in that direction.

[Yuko]

The monster quickly absorbed water from the grass below her and blasted Yuko with it, sending her crashing through three more trees! Yuko was really getting beaten up and she just barely found the strength to keep fighting. Yuko grabbed the broken tree next to her, yanked it from out of the soil, and threw it at the monster! The monster quickly bended more water from the grass and sliced the tree to pieces with it! Yuko was out of breath and could feel that she had one or two broken bones in her body, but she wasn't the person who called quits when it came to fights.

She charged at the monster, dodged a quick blast of water, and punched her right in the jaw! This sent her flying a few feet back, but she got up like it was nothing! The injury on her chin was still their so Yuko did do some damage to her, but the monster's face was so full of anger, she wondered if the monster even felt it when she hit her! Her black eyes were full of rage and they had a predator-like instinct to kill whatever was in front of them. Yuko could definitely understand why Yao called this girl a monster.

Yuko yelled at herself to stay concentrated and focus on defeating her opponent. She charged for another attack, and was blasted with another whip of water that sent her about a yard back! When Yuko got up on her feet, ready to defend herself, the monster had vanished! Yuko looked around but couldn't find the monster anywhere she looked!

Yuko laughed and said, "Must've scared her off."

Yuko then saw Hitomi walking toward her, and she was injured! Yuko raced toward her friend and was about to embrace her, but Hitomi suddenly evaporated into water, formed into an ice spear, and the spear plunged itself into Yuko's chest! Yuko gasped and fell to the ground, screaming and forcefully trying to get the ice out of her body. It was in pretty deep, but it didn't seem like it did too much damage, or at least not anything life threatening.

As Yuko struggled with getting the ice out of her body, the monster came out of hiding and slowly approached her, preparing another ice spear. The monster looked at her with a devilish smile, enjoying the time building up to her victim's death. Yuko, despite her fear and pain, continued to pull on the ice spear in her body, determined that she could still win the fight.

As the monster prepared to deliver the final strike, a rock smashed into the monster's face and sent her flying yards away! Yuko was hoping that it was Hitomi, but it was Yao; Yuko wasn't disappointed that it was Yao who had come to help, but she wanted it to be Hitomi a little bit more.

Yao bent down beside her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Yuko said, still obviously in pain, "But you could've gotten here just a little bit sooner."

Yao apologized and tried to help Yuko pull the ice spear from out of her chest. The spear was tightly inside her body though, and they couldn't seem to get it out. Before Yao could do anything more, the monster came back and blasted Yao with water! Yao got thrown back quite a bit and the monster chased after him.

Yuko continued to struggle with the ice spear in her chest, until an unlikely source arrived to help her. It was Gao and his squadron. Gao ordered his squad to go and help Yao fight off the monster while he bent down over Yuko, turned the ice back into water, and then used the water to start healing her wound.

Yuko angrily said, "I don't need your help."

Gao wasn't interested in her complaints and asked bluntly, "Where's Hitomi?"

Yuko smartly replied, "Dead, so you have no business here."

Gao at first was shocked to hear that Hitomi was dead, but Yuko saw Gao start to figure out her lie and said, "I'm in no mood for your humor! Tell me where the Avatar is!"

"Why should I? You think healing my wound is going to be enough to sell out my best friend?"

"I'm just healing your wound because I need you both presentable for the Boss."

"So healing me is your form of rewrapping a gift?"

"In a way, yes."

Yuko remained silent in disgust for a while until she asked, "So are you about done?"

Gao answered, "I stopped the bleeding and healed everything else, so once the bruise goes away, yes."

"Good enough." After saying that, Yuko quickly jumped up and kicked Gao hard in the stomach, sending him crashing through a few trees over the course of a few yards! Yuko then raced toward the tar pit to check on Hitomi. Once at the tar pit, Yuko found Hitomi unconscious and in the same position as she last saw her. She tried shaking her awake and calling out her name, but it did little good.

"Hitomi," whispered Yuko, "Please wake up."

[Hitomi]

Hitomi was standing in the middle of the tiled circle, listening to the desert wind calling out her name, in Yuko's voice.

Hitomi called back, "Yuko? Is that you?"

Hitomi tried to think of a way back into her world, but she couldn't think of anything. She came up with the idea of meditating her way out of the domain, but she was unsuccessful when she tried.

Hitomi then realized that she only knew one other way out. She had to travel across the electrocuting sand. She wasn't sure if it could actually send her back, but it did work last time, after she met that insane lab coat guy. Would she meet the lab coat guy again if she walked across the sand?

Despite all of the unsure questions, she knew she had to try. She ran across the sand, red electricity shooting up at her and sending watts of shrieking pain throughout her entire body! After going a slightly longer distance than before, she sank into the sand and landed on grass this time.

"Hitomi?" asked a familiar voice, "How nice it is to see you once again!"

She looked up and saw the man in the lab coat, seemingly unchanged since their last encounter. He was sitting on the grass and looking up at the night sky.

Hitomi stood up and asked, "Who are you?"

He simply continued staring at the stars and moon as he replied, "My employees refer to me as the Doctor. I specialize in hypnosis, chemical reconfiguration, and the study of the Spirit World."

"Odd fields for a doctor." Hitomi replied.

He chuckled and said, "Yes, quite; though you'll quickly learn that I'm not your everyday doctor. I am far more than that, I can assure you. So, what brings you here?"

Hitomi had several questions, but right now, it was super important that she got back to her body. She demanded, "I need you to send me back to my body. I'm not sure how you did it the first time, but I need you to do it again."

The Doctor stood up and said, "Oh I see, Camero must be giving you trouble."

"Camero?"

"Yes, she's an old pet of mine who just loves to fight and kill. I had high hopes for her, but I messed up somewhere with her, so I originally ordered her to be destroyed. However, she was very strong and skilled at water bending, so simply keeping her locked up was quite the challenge. So I decided to have her be stranded on a deserted island and strongly tied to a rock, far away enough from the forest so she couldn't absorb water from the grass and trees. My guess is that she was able to use her spiritual domain to overpower yours and take control of your body."

"She has a spiritual domain of her own too?"

"Yes, every being that I put through a Deletion gets his or her own spiritual domain conveniently placed in the right arm."

Hitomi quickly put one and two together and asked, "You created the spiritual domain that only I can access?"

"Very good; soon everything will become clear to you Avatar, but I'm afraid that I must cease giving you tips for the moment."

"No!" Hitomi ordered, "Tell me everything you know!"

"In due time," the Doctor assured her, "Now, as for your current situation, my suggestion is to go into the Avatar State to break another barrier around your Deletion. When Camero used her spiritual domain to control your body, she linked her spiritual domain onto yours. This means that all you have to do is break another barrier and her connection with your spiritual domain will be shattered, causing her to go into a comma. How long the comma will last is beyond my knowledge, but I'm sure it will give you enough time to escape. Goodbye for now!"

Hitomi's eyes shot open and she accidentally head-butted Yuko. While Yuko asked Hitomi if she was okay, Hitomi concentrated on what the Doctor had told her. So he was the reason why her spiritual domain existed and he also created this monster he called Camero. Hitomi had several more questions rattling through her brain, but she brushed them aside to help with the fight at hand.

She looked and Yuko and asked, "Where's Camero? I mean, the monster. Where is she?"

Yuko replied, "She's attacking Yao and Gao's forces. We need to get out of here while we still can."

"Gao?" Hitomi asked in shock, "He's here?"

"If you want to get some payback, don't worry. I gave him a good kick to the gut for you. Now we have to get out of here before things get worse."

By the sound of fear her voice, Hitomi could tell that Yuko knew that the situation was bad and a lot of people were going to get hurt. At first, Hitomi wanted to listen to her and get out of there as quickly as possible. But she was the Avatar. Friend or foe, she couldn't let Yao, Gao, or his men die at the hands of Camero. She had to fight.

Hitomi said, "Yuko, I have to save Yao and the others. I have to fight!"

At first, she though Yuko would try and argue with her and try to talk her out of it. But instead, Yuko nodded in understandence that she wasn't her best friend who worked as a slave for Midori. She was now the Avatar, and as the Avatar, she had a duty to protect the world from those trying to destroy the world.

The two girls charged into the forest and saw Yao and a squad of fire benders being blasted repeatedly by water whips and small ice shards formed by an extremely enraged Camero! Hitomi couldn't allow Yao or any of the others to get killed. Hitomi closed her eyes and began to breath, attempting to go into the Avatar State.

Inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…inhale…exhale…

As Camero was preparing to throw an ice spear at Yao, who laid defenseless and injured in the dirt, Hitomi's eyes glowed so bright that it practically turn night into day. Camero looked at Hitomi and roared in a furious flash of anger at the blinding light. Camero threw the ice spear at her, and Hitomi dodged it simply by swatting it away with her hand! Hitomi stomped on the ground and clenched her fists, causing four rock walls to form around Camero. She quickly jumped out before Hitomi crushed her and she began bending ice shards at Hitomi! Hitomi formed a rock wall in front of her, causing all of the ice shards to be blocked, and shot the rock wall at Camero, sending her crashing through dozens of trees and finally into the boulder she was originally chained to! As Hitomi walked toward Camero, some of the fire benders tried to run up and blast her with fire. Hitomi simply waved her hands and air bended them into the sky or so far away that they landed on the beach or even in the ocean! Not all of the fire benders were handled by Hitomi; some of them were knocked unconscious thanks to Yao's rocks and Yuko's strong uppercuts and roundhouse kicks.

Hitomi approached the extremely injured Camero and water bended a spear of ice, ready to be plunged into her body. As Hitomi lifted the spear to deliver the final blow, her eyes once again glowed red and red electricity shot across her body! But this time, red electricity also began shooting through Camero's body and she shrieked in pain as well! The word 'DELETE' glowed red on both Hitomi's arm and Camero's arm! After what seemed to be an eternity of pain and torture, the red electricity faded away and Hitomi and Camero went into unconsciousness.

_"Good work Hitomi. I just knew you'd win. I would expect nothing less from the Avatar."_

[Yuko]

Yuko just finished knocking out the last fire bender and went to check on Yao. Yao stood above his opponents and claimed that he never felt younger or stronger than he did that night. Yuko approached the only remaining man left, the advisor with the clipboard. He was stuttering in fear as Yuko approached him and stared him down.

He gulped and said, "Allow me madam." He then proceeded to continuously smack himself in the head with his clipboard until he passed out.

Once Yuko was done laughing at him, she and Yao quickly went to check on Hitomi. She seemed to be alright, but they should probably get here to a medical facility to be safe. Yuko picked up her body and Yao chained the monster to the boulder.

"Come on," Yuko told Yao, "These guys probably came here in speedboats. We'll take one of them to the EarthKingdom tonight."

Yao agreed and they both proceeded to where they assumed Gao's boats to be based on the tracks left by their boots. They found the speedboats and saw that the EarthKingdom was still in sight. Yuko placed Hitomi in the boat and Yao drove the three of them toward their destination as the sun just began to rise from across the sea.

[Gao]

Gao was woken up by Batar and a handful of his other soldiers. They informed him that the Avatar had escaped and several of their men were incredibly injured. Gao got up and asked about the monster they had been fighting. They led him to the boulder where the monster seemed to be in a comma due to the intensity of the battle.

"Hitomi must've given her quite the fight," Gao acknowledged as he looked at the hideous water bender. He ordered, "Bring her to the ship and strap her down tight. I think the Doctor may be interested in this woman's capabilities."

They unchained her and carried her toward their speedboats, unaware of how dangerous this monster with extraordinary water bender prowess could be when she was surrounded by a vast ocean.

Chapter 13 has been completed! Yea! I hope you love this story so far and there is more fun to be had in the future! Please leave me a review telling me what you think of the story and what you would like to see happen next! Until next time!


	14. Chapter 14

The White Lotus War

Chapter 14: Waves Collide

Hitomi woke up when someone splashed water on her face. She instantly woke up to find Yuko and Yao standing above her. Hitomi smiled at her companions, so they knew that she was okay, and looked around at her surroundings. They were on a rocky terrain, pretty far from the shore, but close enough so she could just barely see the boat that she guessed they used to get off the island. In the distance, there was an oversized canyon that seemed to engulf the entire landscape.

"Is that the Great Divide?" she asked.

"Yep," informed Yao, "I guess we'll be hiking from here on out. No easy modes of transportation this time."

"Please don't say that," Yuko pleaded, "I miss my motorcycle enough as it is." She looked at Hitomi and said, "Although, I guess losing a motorcycle isn't near as bad as losing Ma Gui."

Hitomi was shocked when she realized that Ma Gui was left at the apartment she rented out after the Fire Days Festival. She couldn't believe that she went days without the thought of Ma Gui's abandonment ever coming to mind! She felt awful that she just forgot about Ma Gui and prayed that she was all right.

"I know you two are taking in a lot of pain and sorrow," said Yao, "And I really do feel your pain. But right now, we have to put the past behind us and charge at the road ahead. If this Ma Gui of yours has a strong connection with you, then you two will find a way back to each other. But now we have to keep fighting forward."

Hitomi thought what Yao said was a bit cheesy, but it did make her feel a lot better and gave her the strength to stand up and say, "You're right. We still need to keep fighting. Yuko, you and I still need to get to Tyro Town so we can head to the Fire Nation."

Yao smiled and said, "And I need to head to Republic City so I can start rebuilding my life."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Yuko asked as she charged at the Great Divide with Hitomi and Yao closely following.

Hitomi still had a lot on her mind though. She asked herself a bunch of questions about that Doctor she talked to. "How am I able to talk to him? How does he know so much about me? How did he know I was on the same island as Camero?"

All of those questions picked at her brain as they headed toward the Great Divide.

[Gao]

Gao, Batar, and their men looked down in curiosity at the unconscious and tightly restrained water bending monster of a woman. She appeared to be in a coma, but they strapped her down tightly to the bed just in case. Gao was upset that Avatar Hitomi managed to get away, but he was more fascinated in the power and just bizarre look of their captured beast.

However, Gao ignored all his previous thoughts when he heard the sound of a military ship's horn. Gao knew the horn well from previous training under the guidance of his father.

A voice from the overhead voice box said, "Captain, there's a military ship whose leader wants to board and converse with you. Should we open fire and run, considering we have a prisoner and all?"

Gao went over to a metal box of buttons attached to the steel wall and replied, "That won't be necessary. There's no way anyone would know we have a captive on our vessel. And if I'm asked, I'll just say the woman is an ill stowaway that we've decided to restrain. Allow the captain to board."

"Um, sir, it's not a captain's ship; it's a general's."

Gao was shocked. A general of the United Republic of Nations is requesting permission to be on his ship? That just didn't sound right.

Gao quickly pressed the button again and quickly said, "On second thought, keep the getaway men at their posts, just in case."

"Right away sir," confirmed the voice before the voice box went mute.

Gao and Batar quickly headed to the main deck where they found General Roja, a strong woman with clear Fire Nation origins, and several of her soldiers already on his ship. Her massive battle cruiser was right next to Gao's ship, making his ship look like a toy paper boat compared to the general's. Gao, though keeping good posture, was in complete shock and didn't know exactly what he had done wrong to make a general ship stop him in his tracks.

Gao whispered to Batar, "If she asks me about the Underground Nation or anything relating to it, inform the Boss and use the self destruct mechanism to destroy every piece of evidence we may have on this ship."

Batar nodded and Gao approached General Roja. She didn't give him a chance to introduce himself and quickly got to the point, "Are you aware that you on restricted waters?"

"Pardon me?" Gao asked out of shock at the bluntness of her question.

"We have been cleaning up the remains of an oversea water-tribe smuggling empire. I made sure that every ship in the world was notified that these waters were off limits until further notice. Is there a reason you ignored this worldwide command?"

Batar stood frozen in fear and whispered to Gao, "I-I'm so s-sorry s-sir, I f-forgot to t-tell the navigators t-that this sp-specific area was off l-limits. Please don't throw me overboard!"

Gao would've been angry, but he was currently relieved and even smirked at the fact that General Roja was just inches away from finding out about the Underground Nation and she was about to let it slip through her fingers. Gao poetically apologized to the general and told his men to prepare to leave for different waters.

That's when the sleeping monster awoke.

The vast waters surrounding the ships quickly formed into waves that splashed down onto Gao's ship! Several of Gao's and Roja's soldiers were sent flying off the deck and into the now chaotic oceans! The top of Gao's ship tore open and the monstrous water bender slowly appeared from out of the wreckage and shrieked at Gao.

"Who," General Roja said with shock, "I mean, what is that?"

"She must be a stowaway that found a good hiding spot on my ship." Gao quickly lied.

The monster ran to the side of the ship and dived into the hazardous waters. Almost immediately, she shot up from the ocean, creating a typhoon of water that completely tore General Roja's battle cruiser in half! The general stood stunned as her ship slowly sank into the depths of the sea.

She angrily looked at everyone and commanded, "I don't care who or what that thing is! Take it down now or it'll be the last thing you do!"

Gao's fire benders and General Roja's water and fire benders began shooting fire and water at the monster, but she easily cast aside their bending with minimal effort and continued to swirl her hands, attempting to create a massive maelstrom! Gao, understanding that everyone would die if they were left to their own devices, ordered Batar to send out an SOS to any military ship that could possibly help them.

To their luck, another battle cruiser was already passing by and turned to help them; this one seemed even larger than General Roja's. Fire benders from the battle cruiser shot lightning bolts at the monster, which did a little more damage, but the monster struck back and sent out four enormous typhoons to drown the battle cruiser!

However, the typhoons were destroyed before they hit the ship! A water bender with long black hair and wearing a general's uniform, stood at bow of the ship, easily swatting away the typhoons with a simple wave of the hand! Gao had never before seen such a powerful water bender! The general dived into the ocean and, just like the monster, shot out from the ocean, forming enormous typhoons that he sent directly at the monster; except it appeared that he did it with even less effort! The monster shrieked in annoyance and sent even more typhoons at him! Gao's jaw dropped as he watched what appeared to be two water bending gods having a massive battle within the air over an ocean!

After their typhoons collided, resulting in a massive explosion of water, the monster shot herself at the general, and the general easily water whipped her into the ocean! She was shot down into the water so fast that the splash skyrocketed upward! The general raised his hands, which caused the forming of a wave big enough to drown out an entire section of the ocean! On the now bare ocean floor, the general looked down at the weak and injured monster that lied defenseless, but still glared at the general as if saying she could still win. The general accepted her challenge and sent the world's largest wave surging down onto the monster, causing a splash so massive that Gao's ship flew across the sky for miles and landed back on the ocean with another large splash!

Gao, Batar, General Roja and their remaining men had fallen into the ocean due to the massive crash and just floated in the water, still amazed at how powerful the two water benders were. The battle cruiser quickly caught up with them and the water bending general lightly lifted them all up from out of the ocean and onto the main deck of the ship.

General Roja approached the other general, saluted, and said, "Thank you so much for your assistance. Without your help, we all surely would've been killed by that, thing."

The general nodded and left without another word.

Batar ordered Gao's men to prepare the ship for transportation to a ship repair yard while Gao approached General Roja. General Roja asked, "What was that thing?"

Gao honestly answered, "I don't know. It seemed to be a nightmare made real." Gao asked, "And who was that magnificently skilled general? I never knew that water benders could become that powerful."

General Roja answered, "That was General Akio, the most powerful water bender in the world."

Okay, I've been gone for a while and I'm a little out of practice and this chapter will probably be edited because I've been out of practice for so long, but I'm back and ready to keep this story going with the completion of Chapter 14! Thank you for reading this and I hope you're having a blast! Please leave a review so I know what you think of the story and how to make even more amazing! Goodbye!


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